


Teaching is a Lesson in Itself

by lelliiethesnake



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Multi, Teachers!AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-04 18:28:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 37,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4148319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lelliiethesnake/pseuds/lelliiethesnake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reader-insert High School Teacher AU. If you haven't already, consider installing the Interactive fics extension on chrome. It'll replace "(Y/N)" with a name of your choice, designed for character/reader fics. This means if I use "(Y/N)" in later chapters you can make it personal</p><p>"You start a new teaching job with the hopes that it will be as refreshing and rewarding as all the teachers promise. You didn't expect to wind up with a group of loyal friends, a sudden interest in acting and a crush on the teacher in the classroom opposite almost as embarrassing as the teens have."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

You were never good at first impressions. It was a skill you’d struggled to develop over the years, as someone who freezes when put on the spot. Which is why you’re as amazed as everyone else at having become a teacher. If you freeze in front of adults then surely you’d freeze up in front of gangs of teens right? Well apparently not. Teenagers you could deal with. Those hormones, that attitude, it was a case of been-there, done-that, got-the-goddamn-memo about how these kids like being treated. Because there was no use condescending to kids who do actually possess half a brain. 

You hoped this new school would be better at treating the teens like people than your previous job had. Rooster Teeth High School claimed to be something special and different for teens in Texas and you hoped that this rang true. Clashes at your previous teaching job had left to a questionable dismissal. Technically you said “I quit” at the same time your boss said “You’re fired”, but you still maintain that you chose to leave first. You steadied yourself and took a deep breath before walking into the large, white stone building of your new job and up to your smiling new boss.

“Welcome to RT”. Burnie smiled at you as he invited you in at the reception. It was early on the first day of term and he wanted to give you the tour before the first-day-rabble arrived.

“Thanks Burnie,” you replied, having warmed to your new boss instantly during the interviews. “I’m looking forwards to working here.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“I bet it’s strange having a teacher come in that’s not done any trial days, huh?”

“You are the first teacher we’ve ever hired from abroad. I hope English high schools have prepared you for American ones. Normally high schools are a challenge but we take a lot of very out-there children. It’ll be somewhat of a baptism of fire but if that spirit I saw in the interviews shines through you’ll cope fine.” There was something about Burnie Burns that made you feel confident and comfortable. He was sharp and clever and clearly didn’t take anyone’s shit. You got the impression that if you kept to your professionalism and competence then the two of you would get on very well.

“Oh English teens are a sharp breed in themselves, just as cruel as Americans can be. Crueller, if I’d have to place my bets.” You mused as you walked down the wide corridors. The school had all the signs of being ready for a new term, the walls had been scrubbed of scuff marks over the summer and the classrooms were actually clean and neat. The floors were polished and shiny ready for the impending stampede of hundreds of feet.

Burnie huffed. “Well you’re the only one that can make that comparison, and you’ll find out soon enough. Hey, we’re nearly at the staff room. Let me introduce you to the crew.”

He turned down a thin corridor and into the plain blue door at the end. Walking in you saw a crowd of adults of all shapes and sizes dotted round, chatting enthusiastically and catching up on summer gossip as much as any teen. The noise starts to die down as you and Burnie walk in and when Burnie claps his hands most turn to look. This was clearly a beginning-of-year ritual.

“Welcome back you misfits.” Burnie smiles. “I hope you’ve all had entertaining and fulfilling summers. We’ve not got much new to announce this year. Food prices have indeed gone up by ten cents this year,” (there was a collective groan across the room), “..but we’ve been able to keep most of you with free periods on your schedule this year, which is a bonus. We’ve only got one new staff member this year. I’d like to introduce our new English teacher!” Burnie gestured to you and you did a mock curtsey. You immediately panicked about looking corny but most people smiled and a couple laughed, so you smiled back. “She is, in fact, English, so she’s got no excuse not to be perfect.” He winked at you and you laugh.

 

“Thanks Burnie.” you said, before turning to the room and introducing yourself. “Nice to meet you all.” You stepped to the side and let Burnie do his talk.

Burnie gave everyone a little pep talk about the beginning of term and facing the kids again before excusing himself. It was quirky, confident and really bolstered the mood of the room. The atmosphere was already far more relaxed and welcoming than any school you’d ever worked in before and you took it as a good sign. As he left he gave you a smile and left you to mingle. You faltered for a minute, not knowing where to start, but before you could find an excuse to hide away you were saved by a tall, good looking blond guy with hair swept to the side and an unmistakable dad-ish air to him. 

“Hey, I’m Ryan.” He said, coming up to shake your hand. “You look like you could use a cup of coffee.”

“Oh god thank you.” You smiled. “I don’t know how I’m functioning at this hour of the morning. Six weeks of getting up whenever I want to has taken it’s toll.”

“I think we all feel the same about that.” He said, as he led you across the room to the crowd stood round the coffee machine. As you walked up they all smiled and gave a wave, and Ryan gave you the standard teacher-style round of introductions.

“So this is Geoff,” he said, gesturing to the smiling, heavily tattooed man on your left. “He teaches Photography. Gavin next to him is a general science teacher, he’s British too, so you know obviously you’ll have everything in common.” You gave a smile at the sarcasm as Gavin gave you a wave. “Michael next to him works with Jack over there in the general workshop department, Jack is more woodwork but Michael does electrics. Lindsay over there, she’s Michael’s wife. She’s the drama teacher. Matt and Jeremy they’re IT teachers, and Griffon here is Geoff’s wife. She does Art.”

“So what do you teach?” You ask, turning to Ryan. 

“Eh..,” he hesitates, “A lot of things. Mostly IT, but I do some math lessons and also help out in the drama department.”

“Drama? That’s a bit different.” You smile. 

“Yeah I’m good at the lighting and technical stuff. Not so much one for the spotlight though.”

“Ohh bullshit.” Geoff cuts in, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “Make him tell you about his career in modelling.”

Ryan makes a disgruntled sigh and puts his head in his hands. Michael laughs at that and claps a hand on his back. “It’s okay buddy, just get that embarrassment out in the air niiice and fucking early.”

“It was a long time ago okay?” Ryan answers to the amused look on your face. When you don’t answer but continue to smirk at him he shrugs his shoulders and puts his hands up. “Okay, yeah. It happened. But it was a long time ago.”

You give a laugh, free from first day jitters for the first time. These people were relaxed and friendly and had a good sense of humour. You feel you’ll get on here just fine.

“So how long have you been in the States then?” Geoff asked.

“Uhh… about a week?” You replied sheepishly.

“Wow, so you’ve never taught in an American high school before? You’ve got some balls just turning up to this place.”

You smirk. “Well you know, I always had this feeling that if I was gonna do Amercia, I might as well just go straight in at the deep end and throw myself into Texas. What’s the point of doing something if it isn’t a challenge?”

Geoff laughed and turned to Gavin and Michael. “I like her.”

“How long have you been teaching here?” You ask Gavin out of curiosity.

“Uhh, this is my second year here.” Gavin replied. “But I taught at other schools in the US before I came here.” 

“Didn’t quit prepare you enough for this place though did it?” Smirked Ryan.

“Ooh there’s a story there.” You reply.

Gavin made a noise of complaint. “At least I wasn’t a model in a teen magazine-“

“Anyway,” Ryan cut in, changing the subject. Geoff and Michael laughed. “It’s nearly time for the bell; the kids are starting to file in. You want help setting up your classroom?” You could tell he wasn’t ready to give the full story to you and you let it slide. It’s not like this is something that would be easily forgotten…

“Uh, that’d be great, thanks. I’m up in classroom…” you glance at the number on your phone, “17b.”

Ryan’s eyes widen with surprise and he smiles. “Oh that’s right across from me. You’re right up the end of the English department.”

“I’m gonna presume that’s a good thing.” You smile. “Shall we head up there then? It’d be nice to familiarise myself with my classroom for the year.”

You give a goodbye to the others and they wish you all a good luck. Ryan accompanies you down the hall, up some stairs and down another super long corridor to the right. The school is of a reasonable size but unlike British schools which were a twisted mesh of buildings added on one after the other over the years this place was mostly laid out sensibly. That was one thing you were beginning to love about the US. From classrooms to road systems, there was nothing wrong with a straightforward grid.

As you walk Ryan makes small-talk about the school. Burnie had given you all the official stuff about school league table performance but Ryan gave you all the personal touches, like who you should get on-side, who was touchy about what and good places to go to get some quiet in your breaks. It was refreshing and friendly and you already felt settled in.

“…And here we are.” Ryan announces at the door to 17b. It was a pale green colour with a small glass panel with the room number in little black letters at the bottom of the glass. Stepping through you felt the familiarity of a classroom and smiled. Sure, the desks were those individual American ones instead of tables of two and sure, the window looked out onto a far hotter, drier and dustier landscape than you were used to, but a classroom is a classroom. It’s where you feel at home.

“Thank you,” you give Ryan a smile, “I’m gonna get myself settled in here but I’ll see you later, yeah?”

“See you later.” Ryan closes the door behind you and you walk up to sit at your new desk, putting your personal effects from your handbag into the drawer. The noticeboards are blank and waiting for your student’s work and the whiteboard is clean and fresh behind you. As you stare at the rows of seats lined neatly in front of you the bell rings, high and shrill, and you pull the register out of your pile of paperwork. Bring it on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please find me on tumblr at matt-foggy-karen-me :)


	2. Chapter 2

As first days went it wasn’t the best you’d ever had, but it certainly wasn’t the worst. The kids in this school were smart and tough and you knew this job was one that would be rewarding at the end. It showed from the first bell. Your homeroom class was a mix of new students; most of which had never been put in a lesson together. The new mix gave you a fresh platform to introduce yourself and stamp your mark. 

Ellen Carter, a blonde girl who sat at the window chewing her pen and kicking absentmindedly when she wasn’t paying attention, was the first student to remark on your nationality during homeroom. She asked you bluntly “Are you English?”, and you heard the stubbornness of a potentially difficult student in her voice. 

“Ten points to Ellen.” You replied with a smile. “I was indeed born in the UK.”

“Why the hell would you choose to teach here?” She replied, looking genuinely bewildered. You laughed out loud.

“Just so I get to spend time with you lovely people.” 

First period was an easy start. You ended up with an AP English Lit class who came across as very nervous about how hard the course would be and initially seemed to have doubts about your teaching ability. Nervousness you could deal with. You explained, as best as you understood, the differences and similarities between AP English Lit in the US and A Level English Lit in the UK and it seemed to reassure some of the more nervous students as brows stopped furrowing with concern and you teased some smiles out of the anxious faces. Students never bother to watch their faces while they stare at the front of the classroom and you’re always presented with a wealth of facial expressions.

When first break rolled around you were introduced to your neighbours in the English department. Opposite was Meg who taught media studies. Next door was Ashley who specialised in Journalism, You got the impression they spent a lot of time together. They both came over to the classroom to introduce themselves and you ended up stood chatting for a long while, until the break was almost over. Meg shared a lot of your nerdy interests and you looked forward to spending more time with her, especially when she started talking about Cosplay. You looked at her shining purple hair and felt reassured by how lax things seemed here. Geoff was covered in tattoos; Meg had purple hair and most of the teachers dressed quite casually. It was clearly a vibe that worked here as the atmosphere was so relaxed. You began to understand pretty quickly how this school had a reputation for turning around troublesome kids, the methods were unorthodox but certainly seemed supportive and encouraging.

By the time lunch rolled round you were starving. The next lessons had gone much easier but it was still draining to be up in front of the class after not having taught for six weeks, especially after being up late the night before trying to sort out issues with your new apartment. You felt really tired, feet heavy and head fuzzy, as you headed down to the staff room for your lunch break.

You walked in and saw the gang you’d been sat with that morning over the other side of the room. As you approached Geoff waved you into the circle and you plonked yourself down on a couch between Michael and Jack, listening to an intense and very heated debate.

“But Geoff, Geoff you didn’t grow up with Nintendo, so that nostalgia factor is missing.”

“Michael that isn’t important-“

“It is so important!”

“-It isn’t important for now. If a console is good it will stand in everyone’s memories, not just those who were young when it came out.”

“But you can’t deny that those consoles out when you were a kid stick around in your memory more.”

“Yeah but they were also better consoles.”

“No Geoff that’s bullshit, I call bullshit. You just like them cause they were out when you were young the same way I like Nintendo. Also Nintendo make some fucking good stuff even to this day so-“

“Oh no they don’t, Nintendo are awful. If you’re going to game do some proper gaming.”

“SO.” Jack loudly cut across them, sighing to indicate that this had been going on far too long. He turned to you. “How were your lessons this morning? Any trouble makers?”

Michael and Geoff trailed off with a huff and turned to listen, clearly not done with that argument yet. You smiled with amusement before turning to answer Jack. “It was good thanks. And no one in particular, though I have my bottom set class next this afternoon which usually throws up some trouble makers.”

“Yeah there are always a few. It’s usually around the second week they rear their heads round here.”

“They always do.” You yawn. “So where do people get lunch round here anyway?”

“Oh shit dude,” Geoff huffed, “You’ve already missed the queue, you don’t have a lunch buddy yet. Lunch is over in the canteen on the first floor by Art. Teacher’s usually get first pick ‘cause it opens fifteen minutes before lunch officially starts. Try and find yourself a lunch buddy who has free period before lunch and you get to skip the queue. Good luck going over there now though.”

“Huh.” You frown, weighing up hunger and laziness. “Maybe I’ll just skip out on lunch today. Who’s your lunch buddy?”

Geoff nodded over at Jack, who waved with a “Hello!”

“It used to be my wife.” Geoff smiled. “But she’s managed to get like, the polar opposite timetable to me this year. It’s such bullshit. But dude, you can’t skip out on lunch. Have Ryan’s lunch.” He tried to hand you a plastic-wrapped sandwich off the table. 

“No, I can’t eat Ryan’s lunch.” You insisted, amused. “Thanks for the offer but that’s not exactly fair. You this keen to offer up everyone’s stuff?”

“Nah,” Michael answered, “Ryan never comes back from his meetings in time to eat it. I’m his lunch buddy and he keeps giving me money to buy food that I just never give to him.”

“I’m in the classroom opposite; I can give it to him if you like.” You offered.

“You can try; I know he’s got a math’s lesson to teach next.” Michael sighed. “That guy always forgets to eat lunch.” 

“He seems nice, it was good of him to come and welcome me over this morning.” 

“Oh we made him go cause he was closest to you.” He proclaimed.

“Made him go?” You frowned.

“Yeah,” Geoff explained, “We knew you were another brit ‘cause Burnie told us. We were trying to decide whether you and Gavin would have some sort of instant British bond when we brought you over.”

“I’ve not really spoken to him much to be honest.” You mused, “I’ll have a chat with him when he’s about. Not feeling particularly drawn to him at the moment though that’s probably just ‘cause I don’t know him.”

Michael laughed. “Oooh, Gav got burned. I’ll tell him he’s been rejected.” He looked up at the clock. “Guys I’ve gotta go prep for next lesson. You want my flapjack to tide you over? It’s homemade, Lindsay bakes.”

“Oh that’s great, thanks.” You smiled at Michael as he handed you a foil wrapped square and headed off. As you opened it and began to dig in, Geoff gave a sigh and put his now empty plate down.

“Where is this wife of yours?” You ask, curious about your new colleagues, “I’d like to chat to her, she seems nice.”

“You probably will do soon. She’s off with Lindsay and Ryan. They’re putting together initial plans for this year’s fall musical.” 

“She acts too?” As you speak your hand slipped, and you ended up with flapjack crumbling down your shirt. You sigh as Geoff huffs in amusement before answering. While he speaks you try and shake the crumbs off, tutting at a small grease stain that it managed to leave behind.

“Oh no, Lindsay does the acting side of things, but Griffon and Ryan both work designing the sets. Griffon the artsy side of things, Ryan the lights and teach.”

“Oh okay.” You scan round the chairs with a frown. There were others here this morning too that we’re missing. “Who’s off where?”

“Gavin is up in the English department, you must have just missed him.”

“He’s dating Meg,” Jack supplied, “Have you met Meg?” You nod. “Yeah he’s seeing her. Ryan as Geoff said is off with Lindsay and Griffon in the theatre hall, Matt and Jeremy were here, you just missed them. They’re off in the canteen now I think. The fools got side-tracked by students who don’t know how to switch it off and on again.”

“I dread the day when technology surpasses me.” You say wryly, and Jack laughs.

“Don’t we all.”

As lunch drew to a close you trundled back up to your department and knocked on Ryan’s classroom but there was no reply. Peering through the glass you saw it was empty. You cautiously opened the door, walked through the very obvious math covered room over to his desk and placed the sandwich in the middle. It was a very cluttered and chaotic desk, the totally opposite of yours, with odd bits of wiring and screwdrivers among stacks of paperwork and notes. You spied some post-it notes and grabbed a pen, leaving a note on his lunch saying you’d brought it to him with a smiley face. You then turned and left the math room, crossing back over into English to get ready for your next class.

Then the day got really quite challenging. You welcomed in your lower level freshman class to see a small class of faces that were either utterly disinterested or here to cause trouble. They all rushed to sit as far to the back as possible.

“Can we all move forwards please?” You ask nicely. No one moved as they all looked at each other, avoiding your eye.

“I don’t want anyone sat on the back row.” You repeat, and a groan went round the room, but still no one made an effort to move. 

“Anyone still on the back row by the time I count down from five can be the first to read out the Shakespeare.” You offered, and all six students on the back row got up and shuffled further to the front before you even began to count. You smiled. The front row was still mostly empty but you could work with that.

“That rule is gonna apply for the rest of the term.” You announced, and anther groan echoed round the room. You sat down on your desk so you didn’t feel like you were lording above the students and tried to talk them into it. “I know it sounds stupid and mean, but you’re here to get educated. If you all just sit there and try to avoid the subject work we’re not going to get anything done. This is about collaboration. We’ve got a certain amount of material to cover, but if we can run through it quickly and everyone is on a good level I have no qualms with spending the last few lessons of term eating cake and watching movies. You put the work in now and you’ll earn it.”

A few faces lit up with interest and you chose the moment to make your introductions. You introduced yourself and gave the kids a brief run of the curriculum. For the first semester you’d be studying Macbeth, then turning to poetry for the second semester. This class was split between you and Meg, but she taught the media and journalism sections and you were left with the more historical works. It would be difficult with a class this disinterested and disengaged, but no job was easy.

Not one face in the class looked impressed with the line-up. Most weren’t even bothering to pretend to pay attention. You knew it was time to try another approach.

“Right guys so who here has studied Shakespeare before, hands up?” You asked as you made your way round the room, handing out copies of the text for the students to use for the term. About half the class stuck their hands in the air.

“Right, and who here has read some out loud before?” You asked, and no one stuck their hands up. You knew this was a class of lower abilities put together in the hope that teaching to the same level for everyone would help engagement and speed up improvement. Apparently this was rare in the US, but coming from the UK where everything was done in sets you were used to this layout.

“Well, by the end of the term we are all going to be experts in reading Shakespeare out loud. I’m not going to start picking people out of the lesson on the spot though. I always hated the teacher picking on me to read like that when I was in school, so it’s up to you. You can leave the classroom each week when I’ve got enough people volunteered to read the following week. Have a think about it, by the end of this lesson I want volunteers for each of the characters in act one scenes one and two to read next week. If you want, split characters between you, I’ll let you have a chat about it in a minute.”

After letting the kids talk about the roles you manage to assign about two thirds of the class lines for the next week. It was hard work, getting the kids to speak up and participate. At first no one wanted to say anything and they were all avoiding your eye, and then you got responses from lots of people all at once and half the class took it as an excuse to just start talking amongst themselves. By the end of that ordeal you decided to leave it today for participation.

You rounded off the lesson giving a brief intro into the importance of Shakespeare, trying a more colloquial approach, and for the first time you saw a spark of interest in the kids’ faces.

“Right so who here has ever been to the cinema?” You ask, and everyone put their hands up.

“Well take it back to the year Sixteen-hundred, and going to see a Shakespeare play was the best thing there was. No cinemas, no theme parks, no concerts in the way we have today. Getting to go to see Shakespeare was exciting. Now all through your education people are going to tell you about how Shakespeare changed history, about his cultural influence on language and about how his attitude towards entertainment changed history. 

“I want us to focus on engaging with how fun it was to go see a play in the Globe, and to try and get you to understand why people loved it so much. For one thing, Shakespeare is funny. Now we’re not supposed to discuss sex too much in the classroom,” You see a few faces perk up and you smile, ready to spark some engagement in the last minute before the bell, “but in Shakespeare’s works, if you think it’s a dick joke, then it’s definitely a dick joke. Sex is something funny that the whole population could identify with, from the Lords and Ladies sitting in the top box behind the stage to the peasants standing in the ring. As we read through I want you to pick out other common themes in the play. We’ve got sex jokes, but also keep your eye out for jokes about getting married, jokes about what men and women are like and jokes about money and power. Shakespeare may have been writing centuries ago but it’s resonated through time because his works are about these human traits that are characteristic throughout history and are never going to change. That’s why these plays have survived until today and that’s why these plays will survive for years to come.”

As you stop speaking the bell rang. The faces of the kids lit up and they started sliding their pens away and their books closed, ready to get out.

“Remember your books; remember your lines for next week, off you go.” You dismissed casually. The class practically sprinted out of the classroom. Finally, a moment of peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify I am not an English teacher. I am not even a teacher, nor am I as old as my OC. I just think more Ryan/reader fics should exist in this world. I wrote this story for July's Camp NaNoWriMo and there is a rough 30k draft of it. I'll try and get the chapters edited and published about once a week from now on. You lovely people deserve it.


	3. Chapter 3

As you breathed a sigh of relief at the last kids leaving an irregular movement caught your eye. Ryan came through the doorway as the last kids filed out, waving hello when you looked up to see him.

 

“I wanted to come say thanks for the lunch. That was thoughtful.” He gave you a sincere smile.

 

“That’s okay.” You replied, touched that he’d come to thank you. “Michael bought it. Truthfully Michael told me I could eat it because he was bored of buying food for you that wouldn’t get eaten.”

 

“I do _try_ and get out of stuff early enough to eat.” Ryan insists, his brow furrowing indignantly, and you grin.

 

“Either way, I brought it up for you. As a thanks for introducing me to all your fine friends this morning.”

 

“I’m not sure ‘fine’ is the word but thanks again.” He laughed as he watched you shuffle your paperwork together. “Are you going straight off home now?” He asked lightly.

 

“Yeah, yeah I’ve got loads of flat stuff to do.” You explained, as you started to tidy your desk and get your bag together. It’s not that you were eager to get home and face the stress, but you couldn’t put off facing it much longer. “I only just moved in last week and I’ve still got loads of problems. I haven’t sorted working internet yet.”

 

Ryan’s face looked horrified. “You’ve lived there a week with no internet?”

 

“I know! I’ve managed to do most of the important stuff on my phone but I’m nearly out of data. I don’t know what I’m gonna do if they can’t get it in tomorrow.” You gave a mock shudder of horror. “No internet. It’s worse than the fact I haven’t got hot water.”

 

Ryan looked even more horrified. “You haven’t got hot water?”

 

“Not yet.” You sighed, rubbing your hands over your face and letting the tension in your shoulders drop. “It’s been a nightmare, honestly.”

 

“How have you lived a week without hot water?” Ryan’s shocked face was amusing you now; you’d not suffered that badly.

 

“I’m from a pretty cold place. Austin weather makes me need a cold shower at the end of the day to cool off, that hasn’t bothered me.” You gave a sheepish smile, kind of relieved to finally have someone to tell about your troubles. You didn’t like complaining about your problems in front of strangers, but Ryan was kind and open and friendly off the bat, and you didn’t feel guilty talking about it with him. It was _such_ a relief to finally admit to someone you had stress at home.

 

“Still, you can’t live without hot water.” Ryan insisted.

 

“I know, I’m having so much trouble getting an engineer out to look at it, they couldn’t get anyone out last week. They won’t do evenings or weekends, so working here I’m pretty screwed. I don’t know how I’m gonna get it fixed.”

 

“I could come over and look at it if you want?” Ryan offered, with a smile. You gave him a surprised look.

 

“You’re a plumber too?”

 

“Eh, I dabble.” Ryan gave a shrug. “I’m just kinda fascinated by how stuff works. I’ve gotten pretty handsy over the years.”

 

“Well that’s code for something.” You mutter, and Ryan laughed before glancing at the clock.

 

“Anyway, do you want a lift home?” He offers. “I’m not saying I’ll come in and fix it now, but it’ll help me know where I’m going.”

 

“I only live a 20 minute walk away, but uh, okay. If you’re offering.” You were secretly incredibly relieved. You’d picked up more paperwork on the first day then you’d been expecting and your handbag was very heavy on your shoulder.

 

Ryan chatted amicably the entire way home. He was funny, easy to talk to and liked listening to you talk as well. God bless those instantly easy friends. He had agreed to come round the next day after school to try and fix what he could with the boiler; for which you were eternally grateful. It also gave you the push you’d needed to finally finish unpacking and try to tidy the place up.

 

After exchanging numbers he dropped you off you went inside your small apartment complex, up to the third floor where you rented a modest two bed apartment. It had probably been quite nice when it was new, but the landlord clearly hadn’t been too keen on maintenance and it was showing some thorough wear and tear. After fumbling with the tricky lock, you hung up your coat and passed through the small sitting room, putting your bag on the torn-up blue sofa and walking through to the dingy kitchen. After grabbing yourself a drink of water you headed through to the living room to sit and try to work through the issues with the apartment.

 

You sighed as you slid down to sit in front of the coffee table, legs crossed as you spread all the paperwork out in front of you. There were the more pressing issues of the internet and the hot water, but additionally the kitchen window didn’t lock properly and the landlord was pushing you to do an inventory of the flat. You wanted to try and clear up the damp round the bathroom door before you started putting towels in there and therefore were looking for a de-humidifier. You needed to buy a car and needed to sort out a parking permit for the block first, but didn’t know who to contact or how to go about doing that. There were also stresses with home insurance and other small annoyances that could be solved so much more easily if you had internet. It was a never-ending list of little hassles that was starting to seriously stress you out. You picked up the phone and a notepad, ready to do battle.

 

By nine o’clock you’d managed to arrange for the landlord to come round on Wednesday evening to collect the inventory and look at the ill-fitted window. You spent a good couple of hours doing said inventory of the flat and then meeting and talking with your neighbour across the hall about rent. Tina was lovely and friendly, telling you what you needed to know about how to get a permit and promising to find the numbers for you and post them to you. You thanked her immensely and made a mental note to try and pay her back, maybe by baking something to say thanks. Without internet she’d just saved your ass.

 

As you went to go into the house your phone buzzed in your back pocket. Pulling it out absentmindedly you glanced at the screen and your heart dropped into your stomach. Your mum had messaged you to say that your Aunt had been taken into hospital back in the UK after a heart attack. As you sat panicking the phone buzzed again and a second message came through. _She’s stabilized. Can go home once she’s had some rest. Think she’s gonna be okay. Sorry to panic you but thought you should know. Mum xxx_

 

You usually ate quite healthily, but the stress of the day had robbed you of all motivation. Trundling through to the kitchen you opened the freezer and grabbed an oven pizza, knowing with a guilty feeling that you’d feel bloated the next day from it. But healthiness could wait until you had your life in order. Taking it through to your bedroom you ate as you moved, unpacking the last of your clothes into your drawers, trying to get the house neat and tidy ready for Ryan the next day. However; as you went to hang a few pieces in the wardrobe it made an almighty creaking sound and the rail snapped off from the wood, dumping all your nicest clothes in a pile on the floor.

 

It was the final straw after your stressful day. Standing there, exhausted, you thought about the idea of having to bend down and pick them all up and almost burst into tears. You were on the other side of the planet from anyone you were close to and the loneliness and helplessness washed over you. Moving through to the living room you picked up your keys, purse and phone and left, deciding to go for a walk to try and clear your head.

 

It worked, for a while. The sky was cloudy and the air was close but being outside was refreshing enough to clear your head. After walking for half an hour you found a wall to sit on and pulled out your phone, ready to write a list of all the stuff you needed to deal with. It was short and it was blunt, but you pulled together enough of an action plan to face what needed doing in the flat. As you went to turn back towards the house however thunder rolled and the heavens opened. It was a heavy September thunderstorm and you were drenched through in minutes. It was getting late and the rain wasn’t warm anymore, shivers started to sink into your spine as you trundled home. By the time you reached your apartment you were sopping wet and freezing, with fingers that hardly worked. Worked so badly in fact, that you couldn’t work the tricky lock on the door.

 

Inside, it felt like something had snapped. The futility of trying to open the dodgy door lock with frozen hands was coupled with the realization that when you got inside there was only cold water to wash with. You had to accept defeat. You weren’t capable of handling this all alone.

 

Shakily you drew out your phone and fumbled through the menus. As you slid to ring and brought the phone to your ear worry about being a bother was squashed by how utterly shit you were feeling. A shiver passed through your body as the phone rang once, twice, three times on the other end before it clicked, and Ryan’s hesitant voice gave a “Hello?”

 

“H-hi.” You stuttered out, the cold causing your voice to shiver as your teeth chattered.

 

“Is everything okay?” Ryan asked, concern delicately lacing his voice.

 

“Uh, sort of. Not really. No.” You give an audible sigh. “I know I only just met you today, but it would be really, f-fantastically great if I could come and use a hot shower and some internet right now.”

 

“No that’s fine. You sound cold, are you outside in this rain?” Ryan sounded more openly concerned now.

 

“Yeah I went for a walk then then h-heavens opened. I can’t get b-back into my flat complex. The lock is tricky and I’m s-stood outside like an asshole. Give me your address, I’ll walk my way over.”

 

“No don’t be silly, it’s still raining. I’ll come pick you up.”

 

“Wait no, you d-don’t need to come out in this and get w-wet too.” You tried to insist.

 

“Yeah but I have a warm car and an umbrella. You showed me your place earlier, let me just get some clothes on and I’ll come straight over.”

 

“Get some clothes on? Oh I didn’t just wake you up did I? I’m s-so sorry!”

 

“No, no it’s fine, I was up. I was just in PJs already.”

 

“I feel b-bad now.” You admit, but as you say it another shiver went up your spine and your teeth chattered more violently. Feeling this bad there was only so much you could feel guilty.

 

“Don’t. I’ll be right over, I promise.” Ryan hung up and you turned with your back to the door, sliding down to sit on the small dry patch right by the door under the shelter. Not that the floor would be dry there very long with you dripping onto it.

 

It was only about fifteen minutes before Ryan’s silver car rolled up on the pavement outside. He got out of the driver’s side, putting up his umbrella, before moving round to walk towards you. As he approached he noticed you sat on the floor and stopped dead, but through the rain you couldn’t see what his face looked like.

 

After a second he unfroze and approached you, and you stood up. Trying to give him a smile you shrugged and gave a little laugh, well aware that you must have looked completely ridiculous. You were still in your smart black trousers and shirt from work, but with a pale pink cardigan you’d thown over for warmth as the evening had closed in. You could feel your sopping hair sticking to your face and neck and the water was ticking your scalp as drops ran through it. You knew your make-up must be super smudged by now.

 

Ryan didn’t return the smile, he looked worried about you. “I’m glad I could help, you look, uh-“

 

“Like a drowned rat?” You supplied.

 

“Uh, something like that. How come you can’t get back in?” His brow furrowed.

 

“The lock is tricky. Or my key is tricky. Either way I struggle to get through the door normally and my hands have frozen.” You chatter out.

 

Ryan gestured for you to hand him the key. You did, and he approached the lock curiously. After about a minute playing with the lock, you heard a catch and the door swung open. You felt a little foolish but at the same time immensely relieved. Maybe you wouldn’t have to trouble Ryan any more tonight. He could go home and you could sort yourself out.

 

He seemed to be aware of your thought process. As you went to move inside Ryan followed you up the steps. “You get yourself everything you need to shower at mine. No arguments, you look seriously cold and need a warm shower. Get a bag together quickly; getting you warm is the priority now.”

 

As you approached your flat door you tried to open it, but your hands were still frozen. Ryan gently brought a hand up to rest on your shoulder, the lightest pressure asking you to move back and let him do it. He brushed your cold, wet hand with his larger warm one as he took the key, before he opened the door to your flat and stepped inside, holding your own front door open for you. You went inside and instantly felt guilty about the mess. The paperwork you’d been dealing with was still strewn all over the floor and there were still boxes everywhere. Your small open plan living room and kitchen looked a state.

 

“While you’re here throw some clean clothes on. They’ll at least be dry.” Ryan advised, and you nodded. You quickly moved through to your bathroom to throw things into a bag and into your bedroom to grab clean clothes. You go to try and change but your frozen fingers can’t cope with the buttons on your shirt. Conscious about wasting Ryan’s time – the clock already said it was nearing 11pm - you changed your trousers into leggings and threw an oversized hoodie over the wet shirt. It was better than nothing. As you moved back into the living room Ryan picked your laptop up from off the table and handed it to your to put in your bag.

 

“You can use my wifi. Now come on, let’s get you back to some warmth. Even inside this flat is cold.” He shivered a little himself as he looked round the dingy room and you had to agree. He turned towards the door and you slung your bag over your shoulder as you followed, quietly excited to get to where it was warm.

 


	4. Chapter 4

 

Changing clothes seemed fruitless just getting back to Ryan’s car, moving from the apartment across the car park left you both rather wet. Climbing into the car you let out a sigh at the warmth coming out of the car heaters. Ryan shot you another look of concern and pulled away quickly, declaring “Let’s get you warm.”

There was very little spoken in the car. You were still cold and wet and trying to stop your jaw from chattering. Ryan was concentrating on the road, but the silence wasn’t awkward. You were too cold to feel self-conscious and Ryan seemed happy to let you sit there. After a few minutes he gently started to hum. You couldn’t make out the tune but it was soothing and you greatly appreciated how casual it was.

It was only seven or eight minutes before Ryan pulled into a driveway. Looking up and out the rain splattered window you saw a modest house, light-grey slatted with black windows and a black front door. It definitely suggested bachelor pad material and you hadn’t even gotten in there yet.

Walking up to the front door Ryan opened it and invited you in. The bottom floor was mostly open plan, with the bachelor pad feeling running even deeper. Neutral colours filled most of the space with odd splashes of colour where nerdy video game pillows or other game related material was placed throughout the room. It was mostly tidy with odd, concentrated spots where the room was messy, like the desk over in the corner with piles of paperwork sprawled all over it like the desk in his classroom. This one had added screwdrivers and electronics and other materials mid-way through being experimented on sprawled in the mess.

Ryan muttered out an apology for the minimal mess and led you upstairs to the small second floor. You walked past an open door that looked like an office before he opened the bathroom door for you.

“Here you are. Let me just go get you some fresh towels.” He mumbled before heading off into what you presumed was the bedroom. You walked into the bathroom and stood awkwardly, trying not to look around too curiously. It was quite a modern bathroom, with a square sink, bath and cabinets set in white with white tiles and white lino flooring. The only splashed of colour were the red towels and shower curtain. There was a small corner of the bath with a shampoo and body wash, but aside from that the room was clear of clutter of any sort. The shower stood large and imposing up one end of the bath, all shiny and built into the wall. There were two large knobs to turn underneath, one presumably to turn it on/up and another for temperature. You tried to suss out how it worked before you were left naked and alone in a strange shower.

Ryan came back into the room and handed you a blue towel. “There you go, use that one.” He turned and faced the shower. “I’m just turning the heat down a little. If you just dive in under hot water you’ll hurt yourself.”

He turned back to see you nodding.

“Just warm it up slowly, yeah?”

“T-thank you.” You tried to give him your most grateful smile.

“It’s fine. I’ll leave you to get warm, I’ll be downstairs when you’re done. Take as long as you need.” He swept out of the room and left you alone. You slowly stripped off, as quickly as your frozen hands could manage. When it came to your still sopping shirt you took off a few strategically placed buttons and then slipped it off over your head, anxious to get under the heat.

You turned on the power knob and the water poured into the bathtub. After a few moments steam started to rise out of the water and you stepped into the bath, reaching forwards to stretch your hands out under it. Though you knew the water was turned right down next to your frozen hands it felt like it burned, and slowly but surely you eased yourself under it. It felt wonderful, and as you felt the warmth seep into your core you almost let out a moan. That warmth felt so fucking good.

After a few moments you reached for your shampoo and washed your hair, before rinsing your body down and getting yourself clean. It took you a few attempts to rinse your face before you were certain all the make-up had been washed off. Reluctant to turn the heat off you lingered under the water for a few moments longer before sighing, turning the water off and stepping out to reach for the towel.

After drying off you rummaged in your bag for the clothes you’d brought. You’d grabbed cheap underwear, after all it only needed to be worn until you got home, with your comfiest jeans and a nerdy t-shirt and hoodie. It wasn’t exactly the most glamourous look in front of your new co-worker, but it was better than freezing and you only needed to wear it home. You made a mental note to dress up the next day just to show Ryan that, you know, you weren’t just a total wreck.

After folding your towel neatly onto the rack and rinsing out the shower so it was left clean; you grabbed your bag and gently padded downstairs. You could hear the TV on in the background and as you came into the room you saw Ryan walking over from the kitchen area, a cup of something warm and steaming in each hand.

“Peppermint tea?” he asked, “It helps me calm down before bed.”

“Oh thank you!” You exclaim, as you followed him to sit on the sofa. “You’re really too kind. Now that I can talk without my jaw chatting I’d like to really thank you for this. I must have looked like a crazy person when you rolled up at my flat.”

Ryan chuckled. “Well, it wasn’t your best look. But you’re warm and dry now and that’s the important part.”

You reach down into your bag, pulling out your laptop. “Can I have your wifi password? While I’m here I might as well get as much done as I can.” You opened up your laptop and Ryan recited a long string of numbers from memory. You were impressed, you could never remember numbers like that, but after all he IS a math teacher.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what have you got let to sort?” Ryan asked.

“Oh just frustrating stuff. I’ve got stuff to do for the landlord before he comes round tomorrow. I’ve got to sort out my flat still and unpack it. There’s my parking permit to sort out before I can even think about getting a car. I’ve got some dodgy locks on my kitchen window and even though I’m on the third floor I still feel paranoid with a permanently unlocked window while I’m living alone. I’ve also got damp around my bathroom door so I need to look at buying a de-humidifier. I still can’t get a date for them to come out and look at my internet and I need the internet to sort myself out other stuff like home insurance and bits.”

“Wow.” Ryan said quietly after you stopped talking. “I wasn’t expecting quite a long list. You must be really stressed right now.”

“Well yeah it hasn’t been great.” You give him a sad smile as you sigh. “On top of that I got a call from home today. My aunt back in England has gone into hospital. They think she’ll be okay but it’s such a scare. That’s why I took off for a walk earlier, to clear my head. Then it rained and the temperature dropped.”

“Oh shit. I don’t know what I can say.” Ryan admitted, but showing that he cared was enough to make you feel warmer inside.

“Thank you for all you’ve done already, I mean it.”

“Whatever else I can do to help, you’re welcome to it.” Ryan insisted. “You can come over again tomorrow and use my internet.”

“That’s great, I might take you up on that.” You give him a smile. “I don’t suppose I should stay much longer. It’s getting late and I don’t wanna keep you up before school tomorrow.”

Ryan fixed you a stern look. “You can’t walk home in this. I know you don’t live far but we’re approaching midnight and it’s still hammering it down out there.”

“I can’t sit here and keep you up.” You insisted, despite the fact you were warm and dry and comfy and really didn’t like the idea of having to move quite just yet.

“Hey look,” Ryan cut in, “Stay round here tonight. I need to get up early tomorrow anyway, I’ve got some errands to run before school, so I can drop your off at your flat to get ready in the morning.”

You hesitated. It felt like enough of an intrusion already, having only met the guy that day, but you could hear the rain splattering against the windows and it was extremely cosy curled up into one end of the sofa with your cup of tea.

“If that’s okay with you.” You say softly, wondering if he was expecting you to put up a fight.

“That’s more than okay with me. You’ve got a lot of shit on right now, whatever I can do to help I will.” He gives you another smile. “I’ll go make up the bed for you in a minute.”

“Woah hold up now,” you interject, “I’ll crash on your sofa, I’m not stealing your bed.”

Ryan narrows his eyes a little, clearly ready to argue this one out. “You’ve had a rough day. Let me do this for you.”

“No dude, I’m not making you sleep on your own sofa.” You insist. “I’m quite happy curled up here actually.” You gestured to your position curled up, laptop on your lap, snuggled into the cushions.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Absolutely positive?”

“Yes Ryan.”

“But are you reeaaaally sur-“

“If you feel that compelled to help me I wouldn’t mind some blankets and pillows. If you’ve got some.” You add, trying to shut him down without being rude about it. The change of direction seemed to work.

“Alright.” He conceded. “I’ll go get you some stuff in a minute.” Ryan yawned. “I think it is about bedtime for me. You want a glass of water or anything before I head up to get you that?”

“Nah I’m great, but thanks.”

“Alright.” He pulled himself off the sofa and you breathed a sigh of relief as he walked out the room, relaxing a little. You were beginning to feel bad about just how much he was doing for you. However as you looked round the strange living room you felt a sense of peace, this sofa was soft and the doors and windows actually locked and you had someone else in the house this time. It felt far less unsafe than your dodgy flat.

After a few minutes Ryan came downstairs with an armful of pillows and blankets. He offered to make you a bed up but you insisted you’d handle it once you’d sorted your emails out. After he disappeared the room fell quiet save for the tap of your fingers on the keyboard and before long you felt your eyes drooping. Closing your laptop you set an early alarm on your phone and pulled the blankets up to cover yourself, snuggling further into the sofa. It had been a long day and so despite the strange surroundings it did not take you long to fall asleep.

* * *

 

You were woken up in the morning not by your phone alarm, but by Ryan. His hand brushed your arm lightly and he gave a softly spoken “Hey, wake up sleepy-head.” You opened your eyes to see his face as he was crouched down in front of you; where you were curled on your side on the sofa facing into the room. His hair was still sticking up slightly from sleep and he was in an old, oversized t-shirt and pyjama bottoms. 

You blinked at him for a couple of seconds then let out what was undoubtedly an undignified, sleepy huff and brought your hands up to rub your face. Ryan chuckled gently as he stood and walked into the kitchen area behind you. “Coffee?” He called with a little more assurance.

“Please.” You let out before trying to pull yourself upright. Reaching for your phone you opened it up to see the ungodly hour of 6.05. Your alarm wasn’t even going to go off for 15 minutes.

“I know it’s early.” Ryan said from the kitchen, almost reading your mind. “But I’ve got to pick my cat up from the vet this morning and it’s the other side of town. I’ve gotta leave at ten to 7 to guarantee getting there and back for work at half 8.”

You nodded at him as he spoke but hadn’t quite gained enough brain function to reply yet due to the aforementioned early hour. While the coffee machine started to beep softly you grabbed your bag and trundled up the plush carpeted stairs to the bathroom. You relieved yourself, splashed water over your face and tried to smooth out the crumpled clothes you’d slept in, shaking off the hazy morning sleepiness that clung to your muscles and your thoughts. Thank god you could go home and get ready before work.

Moving back downstairs and into the kitchen Ryan handed you a cup of coffee. As you leant against the black shiny counter you thanked him and took a sip, realising he’d made it just how you liked it.

“You put my sugar in.” You replied, pleasantly surprised.

“Well yeah, I remembered from the staff room yesterday morning.” Ryan brushed off casually.

“That’s impressively thoughtful when it’s _not_ an ungodly hour of the morning.” You remarked and gave him as much of a pleased smile as you could manage. He smiled back and went upstairs to shower and get ready.

You meandered over to the sofa and sat down again, staring out the window at the main road and trying to force yourself to wake up properly. In the time it took you to drink your coffee he was showered and downstairs again, this time with his hair smoothed out and work clothes on. He came and sat down next to you on the sofa to finish his coffee.

“So I take it you’re not a morning person then?” He asked.

“Oh god no. I won’t work until about 9am.” You replied. “Until then expect nods for answers at the most.”

“I’ll steer clear of questions about the universe and existence then.” Ryan took a long sip of his coffee. “Are you ready to go? The sooner I get gone the less chance Burnie’s gonna kick my ass for being late.”

“I’m all ready when you are.” You finished off your coffee and put the mug on the coffee table. Ryan tipped his back and did the same. He stood and took the mugs through to the kitchen with an urgency to leave. You stood and moved towards the door ready to follow him out to his car.

“I just wanna say thank you for letting me stay, again.” You said as the two of your left the house. “It was really kind of you.”

“You’re welcome. Honestly its nice having someone over, it’s not always fun living alone and it’s even more empty without the cat.” You give a small chuckle in reply. “And you’re still welcome over later to use my internet. Oh and do you still want me to come over and look at your plumbing later? Do you want me to give you a lift home?”

You took a moment to process the questions and remember his offer. “Thanks for the offer but I’m not sure yet. It’s still early and I haven’t quite figured myself out yet. But hey you’re in the classroom across; I can pop over and let you know.”

Ryan gave you a smile. “That’s fine by me.”


	5. Chapter 5

After being dropped off you made your way up to the flat, tricky locks presenting far less of an obstacle now your fingers weren’t frozen. Walking into your flat you still had paperwork sprawled all over the floor and clothes in a pile in the bedroom. You sighed and started putting things back together; making sure you left enough time to get ready for work. After a quick wash you made a point do your hair into a fancy up-do and your make-up nice. You also picked out a nice pale blue shirt and tight black skirt combination, one which sat on your hips and was just above the knees, with black tights and reasonably smart heels. Ryan had seen you as a total wreck last night and you wanted to ensure he realised that you could look reasonably normal.

You were awake and moving early enough that you got the chance to tidy most of the flat before needing to leave for work, which was a relief. Buzzed up on more coffee than usual you scooped up your paperwork and headed out at five past eight, ready to stop off on the way to work and still arrive the same time as the kids at half past.

The day started similarly to the one before; with grabbing coffee in the staff room. As you walked in Geoff gave a smile and beckoned you over to where the guys were stood in their space round the coffee machine. Scanning round you saw Ryan wasn’t there, he must have been held up by the traffic.

“Morning.” You said with a smile as you reached past to grab yet more coffee.

“Good morning.” Gavin replied with a grin, as he was closest. You got mumbles and nods from everyone else, clearly all of them were as sleepy as you were.

After grabbing your cup you turned to face the sleepy circle. People were far less chatty than they had been yesterday morning, which was understandable once the excitement of the first day wore off. You politely excused yourself, making your way up to your classroom to prep for the first two lessons. After you dumped your handbag on the desk you reached in and grabbed what you stopped off to buy – two fresh chocolate croissants. You took them and walked across the hall to Ryan’s classroom. After noticing no one inside you slipped in and left them on his desk with a note thanking him for all his help the night before.

The day proceeded relatively gently. You had easier lessons today with no difficult classes and more free periods to write notes and sort yourself out. Teaching was what you were good at and teaching was easy to you. It had been a struggle getting into routine again yesterday but today everything seemed to fall into place much more easily. You taught your AP English Lit class again, mostly leaving them to research things themselves; delivered a lesson to your easier, much more attentive class about the importance of Shakespeare and in your first free period managed to get a whole semester’s lesson plans roughly sketched out for your tough freshman class.

It was during the free period before lunch that you next saw Ryan. You were alone in your classroom, the room quiet and calm as you looked through the curriculum and wrote lesson plans. There was a quiet knock at the door and you looked up to see Ryan’s face poking through the window, giving you a little wave.

You nodded for him to come in and he opened the door gently, moving round to close it behind him and walk over to you.

“Thanks for the breakfast.” He gave you a smile. “You seem to have formed a habit of feeding me already.”

“I did think that earlier.” You laughed, “But then again it is the easiest way of paying you back for kindness.”

“Food is the best.” Ryan nodded. 

“Oh food is the greatest. My absolute favourite thing.” You glance up at the clock. “I should probably head down to the cafeteria soon; I’ve heard it’s imperative to get in there before lunch starts.”

“Well I was gonna ask about that,” Ryan brought his hand up and swept his hair back, “Did you want me to fetch you something? I’m going down now ‘cause I’ve got places to be at lunch.”

“That’s very kind.” You reply.

“Well, I know you’ve got stress on at the moment; I figured you’d want more time to work so you can focus on your apartment later.”

You looked at him almost suspiciously. “You are very thoughtful at the moment.” You were feeling a bit on edge with how Ryan seemed to have taken it as his personal mission to help you in life, but at the same time it was really nice to have someone who was looking out for you while you lived alone on the other side of the planet from everyone you know and love. You suspected Ryan knew that and it was half the reason he was doing it.

“Eh, I try.” He replied. “Plus if I’m being really honest after six weeks off work while living alone I’ve gone kinda stir crazy for some company. It’s lovely to just interact with other human beings, you know?”

“I get that feeling. I go insane if I don’t speak to anyone in a while.” You looked down at your lesson plan. “In that case I’m gonna get on with this. Let me just get you some money.”

You went to reach for you purse but Ryan brought his hand up and gestured against it.

“No, no don’t worry. You bought me breakfast. It’s not an expensive café.” He insisted. You internally kicked yourself, he wasn’t quite getting it.

“Ryan please, I’m trying to say thank you for your help by giving YOU food, you don’t need to help me back.”

“I know, but it’s nice to be able to help where I can.” Ryan smiled. He clearly was beginning to understand your doubts as his voice turned teasing. “Come on; let me be nice to you.”

You bowed your head and let out a laugh. It was really nice to have someone so intent on treating you.

“Alright.” You said, with mock annoyance but a grin on your face.

He raised one eyebrow. “What do you want to eat?” 

“Surprise me.” You challenged.

He narrowed his eyes a little. After hesitating he opened his mouth to reply. “Alright. I’ll be back up in a bit.” He turned and walked out of the classroom. You watched him go, trying to guess what he’d pick for you. You couldn’t decide.

By the time Ryan made his next appearance you’d blasted through three detailed lesson plans and felt really good about how work was going. Your flat might be falling apart but your professional life was going beautifully, so there was a positive.

When Ryan came back up he came into the classroom and walked up to your desk, placing in front of you an Italian ham baguette. It looked fancy, with little folds of ham on a bed of lettuce and layered thin-sliced tomato.

“Bold choice.” You declared, not giving him a positive or negative reaction quite yet.

“Well you know, I figured I’d test if you really did enjoy good food.” Ryan replied with a mischievous smile.

“Well you guessed very well.” You happily picked up the baguette and started to take it out of its wrapping. “Sit down, please.” You gestured to the chairs in front.

“Nah, I can’t stay long, I’ve gotta eat and get down to woodwork.” You glanced at Ryan and he explained. “I’ve gotta talk to Jack about set building for the fall show. I got initial plans drawn up with Lindsay yesterday.” He started pulling apart the wrapping or his baguette. It was the same as you had.

“Geoff said you helped with the drama. It must be fun to get involved with.” You said, around mouthfuls of delicious dry-cured Italian meat. That man could choose a sandwich.

“Yeah, I love it but its hard work.” He replied. “We don’t really have much help in building and rigging the sets. We supposedly have a student club that helps but they’re really not very reliable. Griffon kind of gets away with the arty side of things but I struggle with the tech sometimes. I end up running most of it myself.”

You let him see how impressed you were, eyebrows raising. “I’ve had skirmishes with the theatre before, that’s a lot of work for one guy.”

“Yeah, it’s stressful for a week while the show runs but I do really enjoy it.” The passion and excitement was coming through in his voice and there was a smile teasing at Ryan’s lips.

“That sounds great fun.” You admitted.

“You wanna get involved?” Ryan raised an eyebrow at you.

“Maybe, yeah.” You mused. It wasn’t like you had much else to do with yourself and you lived close enough to walk.

“Come by and join us one lunchtime.” Ryan smiled. “Not so much today though, I’m just off to see Jack. I need to go now actually, but what did you decide about tonight? You want me to come over?”

“Yeah, that’d be great. What day is it, Wednesday? Yeah I’ve got the landlord coming round at five so if you could come round a bit later at six maybe?” You knew the landlord wouldn’t be round for long but that gave you the chance to finish cleaning your messy flat before Ryan got there.

“Yeah that sounds great.”

“Awesome.” You gave him a smile as he motioned to leave. “I’ll see you tonight then, yeah?”

He returned the smile warmly. “See you tonight.”

The rest of the afternoon went equally swimmingly. The one lesson you had was easy enough, you sent the class down to the library to do some research. You got home from work around four, giving yourself just enough time to finish unpacking and landlord-proofing the property before your grumpy, short-tempered Landlord arrived. By the time he rolled up the apartment was finally looking immaculate and you had an easy task walking round explaining to him what you needed and where. 

He agreed to get the hot water problems sorted by the weekend, and that “if you want it done faster you can sort it yourself.” Well, that gave Ryan permission to tinker with the plumbing at least. The landlord also agreed that if you could get it dried out he’d re-plaster the damp bathroom and install a better vent. You did try to point out that it would dry out much faster if he installed the vent first but he started berating you about how you should know how to keep a house dry. You sighed, too tired to feel like battling him, and moved onto show him the kitchen window issues.

By the end of the visit you got some promises out of the landlord and he was happy with his check of how you were keeping the apartment. When he left you were pretty emotionally drained and took no time hesitating to open the wine. You also went and took your restrictive tights off from the day’s work, letting your skirt shorten to mid-thigh as you pulled it up to sit more comfortably on your waist. You took your hair out and let it fall as you ran your finger through it, pulling out the tangles. It shouldn’t be an uphill battle to get your place sorted to live in, you mused as you moved. At least now your home was beginning to feel like a home, with no half-unpacked boxes hanging round anymore.

Ryan rolled up at exactly six o’clock, second precise to a point that was impressive. As the doorbell rang you left the kitchen where you’d been getting stuff out for dinner and went to the door, your feet brushing against the soft carpet. When you opened the door Ryan was standing with a toolbox in one hand, looking relaxed and casual in a plain blue t-shirt and jeans.

“Hey Ryan.” You let him in and wander back into the flat, letting him follow you and close the door. 

“Should I take my shoes off?” He asked, looking polite and earnest.

You gave a snort of amusement. “God no; I’m not that fussy. You want a glass of wine?” You offered as you went to refill your own glass.

“Nah I’m alright thanks.” Ryan said, putting his toolbox down by the end of the sofa.

You came out of the kitchen, wine glass in hand, running your fingers through your hair. “Right, let me show you where I’m at.”

He followed you through to the boiler cupboard in the hall and you opened it up. “There’s something wrong with the boiler internally. We don’t know whether it’s electrical or to do with the plumbing, both the landlord and I have played round with the buttons, we’ve not just failed to turn it on.”

“Hmmm.” Ryan tilted his head to the side slightly as he moved in to look closer. “Are you okay to leave me to just tinker with it?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure go ahead. Landlord gave me permission to get someone in if I wanted it done quickly. Just let me know if you’re gonna need to turn the water off. I’ve still got to cook dinner.”

“I will do.” Ryan knelt to lean in front of the boiler.

“Thanks.” You said reassuringly while placing a hand on his shoulder. You gave it a little squeeze and then headed back off into the kitchen to get the rest of the ingredients out of the fridge for dinner. 

You got the stuff out and then stood there in the kitchen feeling a little lost. You could hear the odd noise where Ryan was tinkering with the boiler but didn’t want to be hovering over his shoulder while he worked. There was nothing else to do – was it rude to watch TV while he did work for you? Your doubt had you instead finding things to clean out in the kitchen so as not to look rude. You reorganised your cupboards to be a bit neater.

Eventually Ryan came into the kitchen with a smile on his face. “I think I’ve got it. There were some electrical bits not connected properly inside, I rewired it and I think it should work fine.”

“Oh that’s great.” You turned to the kitchen sink and turned it on. The water started coming out cold but you heard the boiler hum in the other room and soon it started to warm slowly up under your fingers. You smiled, elated. “Yes! Finally! Warm showers!”

“What else do you need looking at?” Ryan asked. “While I’m here with my toolbox I might as well take a look.”

“That’s really kind of you.” You thank him before turning to the kitchen window. You had to put your wineglass down and stand on your tiptoes, leaning over the counter a little, to stretch to reach the catch where it wouldn’t close.

“The lock doesn’t work here.” You said, before turning round. You catch Ryan’s eyes dart up to the window and you realise you’d caught him out staring at your ass. His face started to go red, so you saved the both of you from any embarrassment by pretending not to have noticed and beckoned him over to look himself. To be fair to him, you told yourself, I am wearing a tight skirt and did just bend over the counter. I’d look in his position. 

Ryan came over and leant to look at the window, playing with the catch. You weren’t short, but he was tall enough that he didn’t have to lean so much. “I can see where it’s broken. I could build something fancy to fix it but to be fair if you could get your landlord to just replace this one part,” he pointed, “then that’s all you need.”

“He said he’d get a guy out to ‘take a look at it’”, you explained, “But I don’t know whether he’s willing to pay or not. Either way it sucks not feeling safe in here so I’d like a solution sharpish.” You sighed. “I’ll see what the guy says when he comes out Friday.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Ryan nodded. He turned to face you, having to look down at you as you stood in such close proximity in the tiny kitchen. “Is there anything else you want me to look at?”

“No, that’s all thanks.” You replied. “Can I interest you with dinner as a thanks?”

Ryan laughed, amused. “Food really is becoming a theme here. Depends, what’s on the menu?”

“I can do a decent Spaghetti Bolognese.” You replied. “I’ve got the stuff out for it if you want to join me.”

“Italian. Sounds good. Can I wash my hands before you get started? I’ve been working.”

“Yeah no that’s cool.” You said, moving out of the way to let Ryan use the kitchen sink. While he washed his hands you turned to start getting ingredients out the fridge.

“Do you want any help?” He offered.

“I’m happy to do the cooking. But I suppose you could chop me some onions if you want.” You gestured for Ryan to sit at the breakfast bar, facing into the kitchen while you cooked. As he moved to sit you slid a chopping board and knife over to him, fetching some onions from the other counter. He got to work while you brought the pan up to heat and put the meat in.

“So, how long have you been at Rooster Teeth then?” You asked curiously.

Ryan had to pause for a moment to think, eyes darting up to the side while he tried to remember. “Uh, I started year before last technically, though I worked as a cover teacher there for a while before.”

“Oh okay. Not massively long then.”

“Nah, just a couple of years there. I never wanted to be a teacher initially.”

“What did you wanna be?” You ask, genuinely curious about Ryan and his life. This guy you’d known two days was already so kind and friendly and you wanted to know more about him.

“I never could quite make up my mind. I like to dabble in a lot of things. I’m quite good with electrical stuff and have worked in computers and IT before. I’ve also done a lot of technical theatre stuff, especially back in college.”

You suddenly remembered the conversation from your first morning at Rooster Teeth. With a smug grin on your face you turned to him. “And what was all this I heard about a career in modelling?”

Ryan’s face blushed red as he swore under his breath. “Damnit I hoped you’ forgotten about that.”

“Oh no, I want all the details.” You said with a smug face.

He hesitated before speaking slowly, not looking up from the onions he was suddenly chopping a lot more finely. “Well, uh, it wasn’t for long. I did it for a few months back when I was young and cute. Got paid a lot to dress up and look pretty but I was pretty terrible at it.”

“How are you bad at modelling? Surely you just stand there and look hot?” You questioned as you finish browning off the mince.

“Yeah but that’s the issue though, I could never stand perfectly for hours, I got bored and fidgeted.” Ryan confessed as he finished with the onions and slid them across the counter towards you.

“I kinda get that.” You replied as you slid the onions into the pan with the meat to soften.

“Also there was this expectation that you’d eat super healthy and be at the gym all the time and I didn’t have the dedication for that. In that world a slice of cake was a piece of sin.”

“I could not live in a world without cake.” You agreed, “That would be a pretty strong deciding factor for me.”

“I do miss five-hundred dollars an hour though.” Ryan replied, and you almost choked on your wine.

“Five-hundred an hour? I could think about sacrificing cake for five-hundred an hour.”

“That’s what I thought, but after several months the cake seems more important. Especially when you’re also terrible at other aspects of the job.”

“Well yeah I can see that.” 

“So now I live to impart wisdom.” Ryan mused, and you laughed. 

“Did you ever see yourself as a teacher?” You asked.

“Not really. But then again I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I kinda just fell into it.”

“I always wanted to teach.” You replied, and Ryan looked at you curiously.

“Why?” He asked.

“Well,” You thought about it yourself for a minute as you stirred, “I like knowledge and knowing things and being able to impart wisdom. I also kinda like being able to say that I’ve had a lasting impact on other people, and being a good teacher can do that. But maybe that’s code for just wanting to be the centre of attention.”

Ryan laughed. “I must admit on a good day when teaching material I like it is fun to be the centre of the room. You’ve just gotta be able to cope with the intense scrutiny that can come with that. Like, I don’t know what I would do if the kids ever found evidence of my modelling days.”

“Wait, are there photos out there?” You asked; a mischievous grin on your face.

“Maybe somewhere? I was in a cheesy teen magazine once.” Ryan admitted sheepishly.

“Oooh I gotta see this.” You laughed. You threw the rest of the ingredients in the pan to cook down and reached to get the pasta. As you stretched to the top shelf of the cupboard you felt his eyes sweep over you again and tried not to blush.

“How hungry are you?” You asked as you grabbed a wad of spaghetti, trying to estimate how much was required for two.

“Relatively.” Ryan replied, and you doubled the amount of pasta you’d normally eat. You ate a lot for one person but Ryan had already displayed and avid love of food.

“You know I’ve never struggled with the scrutiny of teaching.” You replied. “Sometimes I find it intensely limiting not to be able to swear, but it probably isn’t good for me to have a mouth like a sailor anyway. It’s not the most attractive trait.”

“Who the fuck thinks swearing is unattractive?” Ryan replied. “You sound like my grandmother.”

You laughed. “Well that is true. But in most company it’s better to keep a clean vocabulary.”

“The School is pretty relaxed to be honest. Geoff swears all the time, and I know other teachers that do swear occasionally in class. The trick is just to teach the kids when to use it, and try and relish the dramatic effect it can have.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Geoff is a lot of kids’ favourite teacher. He has one rule in his classroom: don’t be an asshole. The kids get the gist of what that entails pretty quickly and they all cooperate with him pretty well. Rarely does Geoff struggle with uncooperative kids, though that might just be because he’s some sort of teen-whisperer.”

“Well if there’s any place to have a teen-whisperer it’s a high school.”

When the pasta finished you grabbed your food and moved round to sit on the stool next to Ryan at the table. The two of you continued to chat amicably. You enjoyed how Ryan always noticed the small details, picking up on your subtle jokes and innuendo. It was flattering to have someone pay attention, especially someone who was so complementary of your cooking skills.

After eating Ryan decided it was time to head off. You thanked him again for all his help and sent him off, feeling warm and happy after the help and the company. You briefly contemplated the lack of evening activities without internet but then realised with glee that you could now take a bath. Excellent.

It was a relieving thing, being able to go all out with bubble bath and candles. Just to be super decadent you added some drops of lavender oil to the water too. As the bath ran you laid out your pyjamas and then clothes for the morning, before grabbing another glass of wine and slipping into the bathroom. With a sigh you lowered yourself into the hot water, smiling with relief as your muscles relaxed. The first few days of term were always achey after you readjusted to being back on your feet all day.

As you relaxed your phone gave a ping from where it was balanced on the bath edge across from you. You reached across and opened up the facebook notification to see Geoff, Gavin and Michael had added you on facebook. Smiling you accepted the requests and scrolled through their feeds curiously. They didn’t use facebook much but there were loads of photos tagged of time spent together, clearly the gang was very tight knit. You didn’t exactly feel like one of the gang yet but you were glad they were so open and friendly. Scrolling through you added Jack, Ryan and Griffon after seeing posts they were tagged in. You would add everyone eventually you were sure.

After a good long soak you climbed out of the bath and got wrapped up ready for bed. Slightly tipsy on the wine you were content to grab a book an curl up in the sublime warmth of your own bed, in a room that you finally had back in order and arranged as your own.


	6. Chapter 6

Your first week went surprisingly well, considering the wobbles you’d had at home. As Friday afternoon drew to a close you smiled, dismissing your last class and humming through packing up your work for the weekend. You now had your first bit of actual marking to do at home after getting your more advanced freshman class to do some creative writing to see what level they were at. Time to assess the level you were starting at with these teens. 

You swung by the staffroom on your way down to grab the coffee flask left there that morning. As you walked into the room Geoff and Gavin turned round from over by the fridge and gave you a smile.

“Look who’s finished her first week.” Geoff smiled. “How you finding it here?”

“Great.” You replied, beaming. “I love it here. The kids are alright, the atmosphere is chilled and the people are okay too.” You said, tongue in cheek.

“Yeah it ain’t so bad.” Geoff announced, with the sudden air of some old dude gazing out over the river he was fishing in, contemplating the achievements of a lifetime and his retirement ahead.

“Do you wanna join us for drinks tonight?” Gavin asked and you smiled. 

“Drinks?”

“Yeah Gav, Lindsay, Michael and I are going to a favourite bar of ours downtown.” Geoff smiled. “It’ll be a nice way to toast off the end of the week.”

“Sounds great.” You replied. “What time were you thinking?”

“We’ll probably get there for about nine.” Gavin replied. “We’ll meet you at the Jackalope on 6th, go from there.”

“Yeah that sounds great. I’ll see you guys there.” 

~

Nine o’clock rolled round and you found yourself walking up a busy street in downtown Austin. It had taken a while to get there, the bus schedule hadn’t been kind but you were watching money and saving the taxi just for the return journey. Moving down towards the designated bar you heard Gavin make some sort of high pitched noise from across the street behind you. You turned to see the four of them approaching, laughing along and chatting. Lindsay spotted you and pointed to the others, who all waved as they came towards you.

“Hey, how are you?” Lindsay said with a smile as she came into talking distance.

“Good, good.” You replied, and exchanged greetings with the others.

As you walked into the bar the others dashed towards the back, obviously scrambling after a regular booth. You followed behind and slid in next to them at a secluded round table at the back of the room. It was cosy, with low lighting from a light over the middle of the table and high, cool glass dividers making it feel private. The plush green round seat could probably hold ten at a push, but the five of you slid round it with comfortable space to spare.

“We’re here embarrassingly often.” Michael explained. “Every Friday usually, we start here and then move off for drinks elsewhere.”

“We don’t always go somewhere else. Sometimes we just stay here.” Gavin cut in.

“Yeh but we usually move away dickwad.” Michael shot back, and you laughed at the insult.

“Pleb.” Gavin muttered. It was said so causally, clearly insults were the usual order of things off school premises.

“So what are you drinking?” Geoff turned to you. “First round is on me.”

You paused, conscious of your choice of drink. Were these beer people? Cocktail people? Anything goes people? You couldn’t quite decide. 

“What are you guys having?” You asked.

“The usual.” Geoff replied with a grin, trying to pry a drink choice out of you to judge you on. This was definitely a test.

“I’ll have what you’re having then.” You said smugly, and Geoff went over to the bar.

When he got back you had to laugh. He was carrying a tray with five brightly coloured cocktails on it, each with a fluorescent green curly straw and a pink cocktail umbrella. As he lowered the tray into the centre of the table you saw five shots in the middle too, clear and mysterious.

“So what’s this then?” You asked, curious about the shots. 

“Don’t ask, just drink.” Geoff insisted, and Lindsay passed a shot and a cocktail your way.

“No, don’t smell it,” Michael ordered as you picked it up, “Down it with the rest of us.”

You paused and held it at a low level. Geoff gave a “One, two, three!” And everyone took their shots. 

Tequila. Bloody strong Tequila. 

You grimaced at the taste and immediately dived in for a sip of your cocktail to take it away. Everyone else did the same and you realised that your very strong cocktail was also tequila based. That would explain it, if you hadn’t just taken a shot this would probably be too strong to stomach.

“You guys drink this heavily all night?” You asked, “I’m used to working up to this.” 

“Well, we’re too lazy to keep go getting drinks.” Michael replied, “So we tend to stick with one or two strong drinks per place. This has got four shots in it, not counting the one you’ve just done.”

“Blimey.” You replied, grateful that you had a high alcohol tolerance.

Apparently this was the wrong choice of word, as the table exploded into conversation.

“See!” Gavin shouted at Michael in a strangled voice. “I TOLD you British people really do say blimey! It’s not just me winding you up.”

“Ohhhh!” Lindsay added.

“Really?!” Michael said in strangled tones.

“Oh shit!” Geoff exclaimed, glee all over his face. “Michael you owe Gavin ten dollars.”

“No that’s bullshit, you must have set her up.” Michael glared at Gavin.

Attention turned to you as you sat there, amused but slightly alarmed by the proceedings.

Geoff turned to you. “Did he put you up to it?”

“No.”

“Bullshit!” Michal insisted.

You grinned. “Nope, no one put me up to anything. We do, in fact, say blimey.”

Michael scowled and Gavin laughed. “I told you!”

You looked on with increasing amusement as Michael muttered his way through taking out his wallet and throwing a note unceremoniously across the table.

“We’ve been arguing that one for a long time.” Lindsay explained. “Gavin use to be our only resident Brit, but he says all sorts of weird shit so we really have no idea what is and isn’t legit.”

“Well I can confirm I say blimey. Also sometimes bloody hell.”

Geoff’s voice turned serious, turning to you and pointing. “This is incredibly important and we need to know for science. Do you actually drink tea every day?”

“Yes.” You replied. When everyone kicked off excitedly you had to shout to be heard. “But- But I haven’t done recently because I can’t find any decent goddamn tea since being over here.”

Gavin looked at you curiously. “What brand?”

“Yorkshire tea.” You replied, deadly serious. “Yourself?”

“I don’t drink a lot of tea but when I do it’s PG Tips.” He responded. 

“Oooh, interesting.” You shot back. “Milk first or after?” 

“First.” Gavin replied.

You watched him answer with a cold stare. “We can’t be friends.” You said; voice deadly serious though the smile was beginning to creep back onto your face as you struggled to hold off from laughing. Geoff, Lindsay and Michael laughed.

“I feel like I’ve just watched you two disown each other.”

“The tea-making process is a serious business.” You replied. “I don’t mean to fuel the stereotype but if you drink tea all day every day you can taste what order it’s been made in. And everyone has a preference.”

“Wow dude. Sounds like serious shit.” Lindsay nodded.

“I still can’t believe you add the milk last.” Gavin replied and you laughed. 

“Clearly we’re from different upbringings.”

“Where are you from in the UK?” He asked curiously.

“Bedfordshire.” You reply, “An hour north of London.”

Gavin’s face lit up. “I know Bedfordshire, I’m from Thame, in Oxfordshire.”

“Shit no way!” You grinned. “We’re from less than an hour away.”

Geoff cut in. “See I told you Britain was fucking tiny.”

“It’s not that small!” Gavin insisted.

“Well it kinda is.” You admit. “But in the US everything is unnecessarily oversized. I feel there’s a balance to be found somewhere. I mean shit, I’m a 50 minute walk from town right now and I got told I was “right in the city centre.” In the towns near me if you walk fifty minutes you’re out in the countryside.”

“You also live 20 minutes from school, which is a fucking achievement.” Geoff said. “I mean I’m 20 minutes in the car, but you and Ryan are about the only people I know that could feasibly walk to school.”

“Ryan said he was over your house in the week.” Gavin mentioned, offhand. “He says you cook good spag bol.”

You laughed. “Yeah, he helped me out a lot this week; I’m still getting my apartment in shape. He helped fix my hot water and I went round his to borrow the internet, which I still don’t have installed at home.”

“You don’t have internet?!” Michael and Geoff said in unison. 

“It’s fine, it’s being installed tomorrow. I argued with the guy on the phone the other day and finally persuaded him to come out at the weekend. He’s not happy about it but I need to be able to get online. Any longer without the web and I will go fucking crazy.”

“I don’t blame you.” Lindsay replied. 

“Buy yeah, Ryan has been lovely.” You paused. “I get the feeling he’s wanting some company.”

Geoff and Michael exchanged looks before Geoff turned to you. “Yeah, the guy had a bad break-up earlier in the year. He’s mostly over it but I think summer was hard for him, living alone for six weeks.”

“Well yeah, at least during term you can throw yourself into work to keep busy.” You agreed. Long summers were a blessing and a curse as a teacher. You suffer greatly with infinite free time and are one of those people that like to keep busy. You can imagine it would be hard for Ryan.

“He wants to help ‘cause it gives him something to do.” Michael explained. “But he did admit to me the other day he’s worried about coming on too strong.”

You gave him a quizzical look. “Dude that doesn’t bother me. I’m on the other side of the planet from everyone I know, I could do with making friends quickly.”

“Yeah well, let Ryan know that. He’s the kind of guy that will worry about bothering you.” Lindsay agreed.

“I’ll invite him round for video games or something.” You said offhandedly and got a round of nods.

“Yeah, he’ll like that.” Gav agreed.

You took a long sip of your cocktail, finishing it off. As you did Michael stood. “Right, time to get another one in. The quicker we’re all drunk the better.”

This time you were brought another brightly coloured cocktail, weaker than the first but still with some bite. Conversation flowed pleasantly and after the second drink you started to get a pleasant buzz. The gang talked quite openly about people they know and for quite a lot of the evening you sat quietly, content to drink and talk when addressed. There was a good balance, they made sure you were well included without forcing the issue, and you learnt a lot from their gossip about the state of the school and the people there. Apparently there were quite a few relationships among the staff, the latest being Aaron from PE with Barbara the French teacher. A few teachers were recently single in the past few months, including Ryan and Matt. The guys also told you that Kdin was another technician you’d meet soon but that he was in hospital for an operation. 

As you progressed to another bar later in the evening things started to get blurry. You have vivid memories of dancing like an idiot with Lindsay while waiting at the bar for more drinks, and a very intense conversation about whether sucking dicks or giving girls head was worse. You remember as the night drew to a close very vividly having Geoff insist you attended his barbeque next Friday for his birthday. You agreed and found yourself a taxi home, watching the busy city lights pass by on your way back to the flat. As you tumbled into bed you text your friends on newly acquired numbers to let them know you got home okay, and fell warm and contentedly into a deep sleep.

You woke up naturally the next day at 11am, feeling a bit guilty that you weren’t showered and fed and dressed until midday. You spent the day on your little balcony, sunlight bright and warm as you marked your way through the creative writing of your freshman class. It was refreshing to see that most of them had promising talent, with only minor grammar and spelling mistakes to correct and a few suggestions about wording and how to vary sentence length. That was easy and you knew you had space to talk about it in your next lesson. 

Mid-afternoon the doorbell went and your landlord came to visit with a guy to look at the kitchen window. You had to watch your temper; feeling tired and still a bit hungover you couldn’t be dealing with his grumpy manner. Your asshole landlord found ways to make things an issue. When you showed him the kitchen window he made a big fuss of how it would take a long time to order a new lock. When you asked if he could just build across like Ryan had suggested he told you that it “wouldn’t possible work” and that “No one could really manage that”. You rolled your eyes and tried to get across the fact that you were uncomfortable in your own home without it locking. Eventually when you opened your purse and thrust twenty dollars at him to cover the shipping costs he agreed to order the new piece. 

Later that afternoon you also had a guy round to install the internet. When he left you literally jumped round the living room with glee, grabbing your laptop and finding some music to stream loudly while you sorted out parking permits, looked at the costs of getting a car and ordered a de-humidifier online. That was a good few troubles sorted and you felt the weight lifting off your shoulders. Life was starting to look up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You didn't think I would update so soon after the last one, but I did! Ha!


	7. Chapter 7

You next bumped into Ryan on Monday morning during first period. You were setting up the classroom for your difficult freshman class next period when he walked past your open classroom door; popping in to say hi.

“Interesting.” He said from the classroom door as he watched you drag the last few chairs round into a circle. All the desks now faced each other. “You know the kids will hate you right?”

“They’ll get used to it.” You insisted. “We’re about to spend an hour reading aloud, I need everyone facing in.

You leave a two desk width at the front to be able to walk in and out of the circle, dragging the whiteboard on wheels forward to stand a step back from the gap. “Here we go.” You said, with a satisfied look on your face.

“I wish you good luck with this class.” Ryan said as he stepped into the classroom to come speak to you. “I’ve been talking to Meg, apparently they’re a nightmare.” 

“Yeah engagement is near zero and most of them mutter amongst themselves while I try to speak. Also there’s a particularly high proportion that sit on their phones. I mean, do they think we’re stupid? I can tell if you’re looking at me or your phone.”

“I used to play phone-chicken with my AP class.” Ryan said with a smirk, and you looked at him quizzically. “For every person I saw looking at their phone I wrote up the name of a death coming up in Game of Thrones. Not many had read the books.”

“Oooh that’s harsh. Harsh but brilliant.” You were impressed. “That’s delightfully evil.”

“I know right?” Ryan said, beaming. “The only trouble is now the show is caught up with the books I need some other way to keep them in line.”

“Hmm.” You frown. “I’m not sure what you can do there. If I think of anything I’ll let you know.”

“I’m sure between us we can come up with something.” Ryan said. “and we need something to help keep your class engaged.”

“Yeah I’ve got a couple of tricks with Shakespeare that might work. I like to have an innuendo counter on the whiteboard, and I point out puns too. That usually sparks some interest.”

“You’ve got the difficult class on Shakespeare?” Ryan looked incredulous. “Good luck with that. Which play?”

“Macbeth.”

“Ahh,” Ryan sighed wistfully. He looked up at the far wall and held his hand out dramatically. “Is this a dagger, which I see before me!” He said boldly, and you laughed.

“You know it?”

“I did it in college. I was supposed to only be a tech but our King Duncan pulled out so I stepped in ‘cause I knew the role. It is a play I’d like to do here one day, it’s just a case of persuading the kids they want to do Shakespeare.”

“I’m sure we can get it done.” You mused. “I did Macbeth back in upper school in the UK. I was in year 10, so the same as these freshmen. It was in a terrible class with real mixed abilities and only a few of us had the confidence to read. I ended up reading all of Lady Macbeth.”

“Ouch, that’s heavy for that age.”

“I know. Depending on how this class goes I might read her now, it will make things much easier.” You sighed. “I hope I’ve got someone good enough to read Macbeth.”

Ryan frowns at you. “When are you teaching it?”

“Now, Mondays second period, and Tuesday fifth period.” 

“I can come help out if you like.” Ryan offered. “I’ve got both those free.”

“Thank you. I’m fine today, we’re only doing scenes one and two, but I’ll let you know. That’d be really helpful when we get to the monologues.”

“I’ll dig my old copy out.” Ryan gave you a smile. “For now though I’ve got marking to do. Good luck with the class.” He stood and motioned to move towards the door.

“Ryan.” You asked softly, and he turned back to you.

“Yeah?”

You thought about the gang’s advice from the other night. “Do you want to come over to mine to chill one evening this week? Have some dinner, play some video games?” You suggested lightly. You didn’t hide the fact you were nervous he’d say no, you were aware he was as nervous about you.

“Uhh, yeah, that sounds good.” Ryan’s voice got a little more confident. “What night do you wanna do? I’m free all week apart from Tuesday. Got drama stuff to do.”

“I could do Wednesday.” You smiled.

“That’s great.” Ryan stood a little taller. “I’ll see you at lunch then?”

“Will do.” You couldn’t keep the grin off your face as he left the classroom. Success.

 

~

At lunch you meandered your way down to the staff room to find Ryan sat with the gang for once. As you approached he reached out and handed you a sandwich. 

“Have you become my lunch buddy now?” You ask with a grin.

“Uh, kind of?” Ryan replied. You squeezed yourself in next to him and Lindsay on the sofa.

“I’ve been cheated on. Guys, I think my lunch buddy is having an affair!” Michael said dramatically from the sofa adjacent and everyone laughed.

“Nah we can make this work as a three way.” Ryan said casually before absent-mindedly taking a bite of his lunch. You snort with laughter.

“I mean as long as Michael is cool with sharing.” You shrug.

“Eh, I always knew his heart belonged to another.” Michael spoke offhandedly.

You started opening your sandwich to eat. Today you’d been handed a chicken mayo salad sandwich. Another good choice.

“You’re really nailing these sandwich choices Ryan.” You admitted.

“I feel sandwich compatibility is important for a good working relationship.” He explained, “Without this crucial element, we could never work out long term.”

“Geoff and I have never been sandwich compatible.” Griffon said from across the sofa, where she sat next to her husband.

“No but we’re alcohol compatible, and that makes for a good marriage.” Geoff supplied.

“There is truth in that.” Lindsay agreed, glancing over a Michael. He was frowning down at his phone, not paying attention. “You okay?” she prompted.

“Yeah,” Michael put his phone away. “The bill just came through for the car’s service. Fucking assholes, with prices like that.”

You laughed. “Cars are much cheaper to run in the US than in the UK. We tax everyone stupid amounts for their environmental impact.”

“Have you got a car yet then?” Ryan asked.

“Nah, I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. I feel super weird still travelling in cars on the wrong side of the road-”

“I think you mean the right side of the road. Ohhh!” Geoff cut in. You faltered and gave a huff of amusement before continuing.

“…let alone driving them. It is something I’ll get on eventually but as I am within walking distance of work and food shops it’s not a desperate priority.”

“But how will you get to places?” Lindsay asked. “You’ve seen so little of Austin.”

“We need to introduce you to Austin properly.” Geoff said decisively. “Let’s go do things.”

“I’d love to experience the city a little more.” You admitted.

“We can take you places.” Michael insisted. “You haven’t done, like, anything this place has to offer.”

“Well,” Lindsay cut in, “She has been to our favourite hangout already.”

“Well yeah, it’s a start.” Michael continued. “But dude, we have so much to show you.”

“I remember when Gavin first experienced the US.” Geoff reminisced. “He was so confused by everything.”

“As am I already, to be honest.”

“Oh well taking you places is gonna be fun.” Geoff nodded. “It’s decided. We’ll show you places.”

“I’d start running now if I were you.” Ryan muttered and you laughed.

“Should I be worried about some ulterior motive?” You asked, giggling.

“Not from us. It’s Ryan the ulterior motive guy.” Geoff laughed. “Our only ulterior motive is getting to go drinking across the city.”

“Sound fair.” You replied. “I’ll take that.”


	8. Chapter 8

Wednesday night the door went almost exactly at seven. Damn, the guy was certainly punctual. You readjusted your outfit and moved towards the door. Aside from that first night you got rained on Ryan had only seen you in formal work gear and you felt weird with skinny jeans on and a Game of Thrones t-shirt. 

As you opened the door Ryan held up an offering of wine and you laughed. “Oh if you insist.” You said, taking it and looking over it. It was a nice red, he must have paid attention to the bottle you’d had when he was over for dinner last.

“Well, you know. You are feeding me again.” He reminded you. “I’ll have to cook you something one day.”

“That’d be nice.” You said, before grabbing two glasses and moving into the living room.

“I’ll skip out on the wine.” Ryan said as you put the glasses down and you frowned at him. 

“Why bring something over you don’t want?”

“I don’t tend to drink.” He explained. “You went out with the gang last Friday night, right? Yeah well they always drink that much. And I don’t feel comfortable getting that drunk that regularly. Moderation is hard and it’s easiest to just not drink.”

You shrug at him. “Seems fair. Do you ever drink?”

“I’ll have a drink on special occasions. Weddings, big birthdays, dates.”

“Oh man, you must be drunk all the time then.” You wink at him.

Ryan laughed. “Nah. That’s why it’s called a special occasion.”

As he spoke you reached down and pulled out your controller from under the table. You flicked on the PS4 and opened your library for inspection, letting Ryan flick through.

“Oooh, interesting.” He commented. “All the Nintendo on the shelf, lots of indie stuff and quirky family games in here. Not really a fan of shooters are you?”

“They’re alright.” You replied, “But they’re always first port of call round friend’s houses. I like to unwind with silly puzzles and cute graphics.”

“You say that, but half these games are super depressing.” He flicked through the on-screen options. “I mean, Brothers? He fucking dies.”

“NOOOO.” You shout, horrified. “I haven’t finished the game!”

“Oh shit! I’m sorry!” Ryan held his hands up and tried to look apologetic. 

You sighed over-dramatically and looked mock offended. Ryan gave you an apologetic smile and you couldn’t help but mirror it.

“Towerfall?” You suggest, as you slide over to grab the second controller.

“Oooh could do.” Ryan replied. “Have you got the latest update?”

“Yeah, yeah I have.” You replied. “Not had much of a chance to play it though. Could be fun.”

“Could do yeah.” You put the game on and moved back onto the sofa, picking up the controller. 

After an hour of shouting and screaming at each other you paused and went to go make dinner. Ryan came and sat back in the same place he did last time, watching and chatting as you grabbed the oven gloves. This time you had been prepared, and you pulled out of the oven a rich beef casserole and placed it on the counter in front of your new friend.

“Holy shit that smells good.” He replied. “How long has that been cooking for?”

“About three hours. It went in when I got home from school.” You said as you grabbed some large bowls and put them in front of him.

“Must have taken some skill.”

“Not really, just patience. Chop and throw everything in and then forget about it for hours. My kind of meal.” You grabbed the ladle and started spooning dinner into the bowls. The potato had gone a little too crumbly and started to break up but everything else was just right. The beef was just beginning to fall apart, the mushrooms were silky and the carrots and leeks were soft without starting to disintegrate.

“This looks amazing, honestly.” Ryan replied as you slid a bowl and a fork into his hands.

“Thanks.” You smiled as you grabbed a fork yourself and moved round to sit next to him. “Ooh that is good.” You said after taking a bite. “If I do say so myself, I’m proud of this one.”

“You have every right to be.” Ryan replied as he took a bit himself. “You put wine in this?”

“A little bit of red.” You replied. “Makes it delicious right now.” You replied as you gestured to your glass of the red wine he’d bought you.

“I’m obviously psychic.” Ryan joked, and fell quiet as he began to eat properly. There was little speaking as you ate but the silence was comfortable. Besides, your mum had always said that silence round the dinner table meant the food was good. It was nice to have someone to share a meal with, as you never found it worth cooking extravagant meals just for yourself. Having someone to cook for was a great prompt for learning new recipes too, and gave you an excuse to spend hours in the kitchen which you loved.

All these thoughts had you feeling good about life and about Ryan. You were feeling fond of him as he finished up eating and offered to wash up for you. You let him take your empty bowl and wash up, chatting away amicably again. Conversation was easy and natural and continued as the two of you moved back to sit in the living room and pick up your controllers again.

~

“No. No fuck you. FUCK YOU!” You shouted as Ryan took the round with a cheer. You glared at him as he smiled smugly, leaning back on the sofa with one knee up and his hands behind his head. You didn’t miss his t-shirt riding up a little.

“Ahh, sweet victory.” He gloated. It had been a very tight game and the two of you had been very well matched.

“You’re a dick.” You muttered and he laughed.

“Someone is bitter it seems.”

“I’ll just have to beat you in a rematch.” You insisted, before picking up the controller again.

Ryan glanced up at the clock. “(Y/N) it’s gone ten now, I should probably get home at some point.”

“Nope, you’re not leaving this room until I’ve beaten you.” You insisted and handed him the controller back. He laughed and picked it up again. It seemed his desire to win outmatched his politeness.

It was almost midnight when the two of you finally packed it in. You’d won the next round, cheering victoriously as you went to refill your wineglass. Ryan had then proposed a best of three and the finally round was incredibly hard fought. You screamed “Nooooooo!” as he stole the lead from you in the last round possible, putting your head in your hands with defeat.

“Well, I think this has been a successful evening.” Ryan concluded, and you tutted at him loudly.

“If you say so.” You muttered, but the corners of your mouth couldn’t help but turn up into a smile to match his. Ryan shut the game down as you stood and took your glass through to the kitchen.

When you moved back into the room Ryan was stood by the door, his jacket in one hand and car keys in the other. You moved over to him and slipped the door open for him. As you opened it you leant against the edge of the door itself, looking up at him.

“Thank you for a lovely evening.” He replied, suddenly a little shy and awkward. He didn’t seem to know what the evening had been or how personal the goodbye should be. And he wasn’t the only one.

“Thank you for coming over.” You replied, unsure whether to just let him go or give him a hug. Maybe you should just give him a kiss on the cheek? The fleeting thought crossed your mind to give him a proper kiss goodbye, but you hadn’t really thought about him that way and dismissed the thought before it had even finished.

After a pause he moved forwards towards you and you moved forwards as well, settling on giving him a big hug, squeezing tight. He brought his arms round and hugged you back, hands on your back and your waist. As you pulled away his hand from your back slid round and down your arm. For a second you thought he was about to take your hand, but his hand let yours fall at the last moment.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at school then.” You said fondly.

“See you then.” He replied with equal fondness, and turned to leave. You stood at the door and watched him cross the hall to move down the stairs. You each gave a little wave before he passed out of sight and you then closed the door behind you, still smiling.

As you turned to look at your living room you paused momentarily, feeling a little weird. Those last few moments had turned decidedly personal. You didn’t quite know how to process it.

The solution, it seemed, was to tidy your games back and shut the flat down ready for bed. After locking the flat and wedging the kitchen window shut as best you could you moved into your bedroom and got your clothes ready for the next day, stripping off and climbing into bed. As you settled down in your bed you stared up at the dark ceiling.

It was nice to have something with someone that seemed to be going somewhere. Where that was yet you weren’t quite sure, maybe you would just end up as good friends. But at the same time, the thought of kissing Ryan goodbye hadn’t been altogether unpleasant. Your first thoughts were that he was warm and friendly and you felt relaxed and happy in his company, but you had to admit he was an attractive guy. Wherever this was going, it was really enjoyable to have something close forming with someone. This, coupled with the increasing feeling you’d made is as one of the gang at work, had you feeling really positive. The troubles you’d been stressing over with the flat hardly seemed relevant now, and these thoughts left you feeling warm. You fell asleep with a smile on your face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For ryanthecomputerguy on tumblr, who sent me the sweetest message about this fic <3


	9. Chapter 9

Friday evening rolled round and you sat in your flat, waiting for Ryan to pick you up to drive to Geoff’s. You were excited about this party; it had become the talk of the staff room over the past week. Apparently Geoff’s barbeques were near impossible to beat and you couldn’t wait. You walked round in circles waiting for Ryan to arrive, going back into the bedroom to check yourself in the mirror one last time. Despite usually being minute precise Ryan had text you saying there was heavy traffic and he might be late over your house.

You looked at yourself in the full mirror and frowned. Your hair had been lovely and bouncy when you blow dried it but it had started to fall flat and you debated whether to try and do something else with it. The rest of your outfit was still on point, with your loose colourful top, tight black skirt and pattered tights. You’d upped the eyeliner game as well and pulled out the good old red lipstick.

As you started playing with your hair your phone buzzed and Ryan text to say he was outside. You decided to just let your hair be and stuffed your phone and keys in your jacket pocket, grabbing your bag of drinks on the way out. As you trundled into the carpark and slid into Ryan’s car he gave you a welcoming smile and turned back to drive. You didn’t miss the glance up and down your body either.

“Looking good Y/N.” He said casually, eyes focused very intently on the road.

“Why thank you kind sir.” You said with a laugh, adjusting your skirt as you stared out in front. The traffic was quite busy but things were still moving. Austin looked good at night, as had all American roads since you got here. There was something about driving down busy American roads at night that made you feel like you were in a movie from your childhood.

You mentioned this out loud and Ryan laughed. “Don’t see it myself. But then again I’ve grown up here. If you’re used to tiny narrow roads I suppose this would look grander.”

“Hey, don’t you insult our roads.” You replied. “We’re not narrow, we’re petite.”

“If you say so.”

 “You drinking tonight?” You asked casually.

“Nah, I’ve gotta drive home.” He said. “I did ask Geoff if there was space to crash but the beds have already been claimed, and I’m done now with sleeping on floors. I hit my limit in college.”

“Yeah I’ve outgrown that too.” You admitted.

“You’re younger than I am.” Ryan commented.

“Can’t be by much, surely?” you ask. “How old are you?”

“Isn’t it impolite to ask someone how old they are?” Ryan teased.

“It’s impolite to ask a _Lady_ how old they are.” You explained.

“Oh so I can ask you then?”

“Oi!” You exclaimed, giving him a mock upset look.

Ryan laughed. “Okay I’m sorry, I don’t mean that. I’m thirty-four.”

You didn’t answer immediately, but raised your eyebrows in surprise. Huh.

“What?” He asked; his teasing suddenly laced with suspicion, “What does that silence mean?”

“Nothing, I just pegged you a little younger than that.” You frowned. “I’m not even sure what I pegged you as to be honest. You’re eight years older than me.”

“ _Eight_? You’re only twenty-six?” Ryan sounded genuinely surprised. “You’re far too self-assured and confident to be twenty-six, especially in front of a class.”

“Eh, I’ve always been a bit grown up.” You explained. “I’m an August baby. I went straight through the school system and graduated uni before I turned twenty-one. I’ve been teaching four years already, not counting my training year. This is my fifth.”

“I didn’t get my life together anywhere near that early.” Ryan said dryly. “Good on you.”

“Well I wouldn’t exactly say I had my life together.” You muttered and Ryan laughed.

“Oh no?”

“I’ve just migrated halfway across the world for one.” You supplied.

“Moving across the world alone takes a lot of self-confidence.” Ryan paused. “Why did you move to the US?”

“Uh,” You thought about how to word it. “A variety of reasons. I was at a school in the UK I hated that disagreed with me. I wanted to teach somewhere that was a bit different and more relaxed. I saw RT online and like the idea of it. Then in February I had kind of a bad break-up and I thought “fuck-it, I’m moving to this school in Austin.”

“Just like that?” Ryan asked.

“It was a very bad break up.” You said shortly. “I’m just glad Burnie saw fit to hire me. He said you were low on English teachers that liked teaching the literature part and that my timing was impeccable. Just got lucky with that I suppose.”

“It is the hardest part to teach.” Ryan commented. “You get those few students that are into it and get it and everyone else has to be dragged through the course and the exam hoops.”

“Yeah, but for me those few students make it worth it. Besides, I really enjoy the material, so even if the class don’t I can hope my enthusiasm will rub off somewhere.”

“You’re pretty confident with your classes, I think if anyone can do it it’s you.” Ryan admitted. You looked across at him and he gave you a brief glance. He looked hesitant, and though it was dark you were pretty sure he was blushing.

You thanked him for the compliment as the two of you pulled into Geoff’s drive. The house stuck out from the houses in the neighbourhood with blue panels and Griffon’s unique brand of artwork spread throughout the front garden, from assorted colourful chainsaw sculptures dotted around to string-art strung from trees alongside fairy lights. It was beautiful in the evening light.

The two of you climbed out the car and headed round through the open gate at the side. The back yard was equally pretty and already buzzing with people, music blaring from speakers on the decking. You wandered through your new colleagues, saying casual ‘hi’s. Ryan bumped into someone he knew and you slid away, moving to find Geoff. You found him in the kitchen, arguing with his wife and Gavin over when to open the spirits.

“We have this argument every year!” Geoff exclaimed.

“Yeah and every year we reach the same conclusion. You say that the best peak time for a barbeque is half eleven right? Well every year you crack the spirits out too early and we peak at half ten!” Griffon explained.

“But I want some goddamn whisky!” Geoff whined.

“I’m with Griffon on this.” Gavin cut in, “Every year you complain the evening is over too soon. Just give it an hour.”

“But if I give it an hour surely I’ll hit the booze harder and peak early just the same!” Geoff insisted.

“You can’t drink more just to prove a point.” Gavin insisted, indignantly.

“Only if you’re a dick about it.” Griffon laughed. “That would just be petty.”

“I can and I will.” Geoff said with a frown on his face, but it seemed to settle the argument and the bottles of spirits were left unopened on the side.

“I can offer a cider.” You said as you slid up to the kitchen counter, putting your bag of drinks on it. Griffon smiled.

“Thank you Y/N.” She said, picking one up and offering it with a smug smile to Geoff.

“No thanks, I’ve got beers in the fridge.” He mumbled, before walking off sulking.

“Well, that’s that settled.” Griffon said. “How are you Y/N? I haven’t had a chance to speak to you much.”

“I’m great. Looking forwards to the evening, I hear Geoff’s barbeques are delicious.”

Griffon laughed. “I’m the one that does the work. You wanna help me prepare this meat for the barbeque? Geoff’s just gone to heat it up.”

“Yeah that’d be great, I always like to steal culinary secrets.” You replied with a smile, moving to help Griffon in the kitchen.

 

* * *

 

As the evening wore on you relaxed and worked your way through talking to a great number of your colleagues, many of whom you hadn’t had a chance to really talk to yet. Burnie, it turned out, was both hilarious and very protective of the barbeque, accepting advice only from Geoff and the deputy head, Gus. He stood there for hours, beer in one hand and tongs in the other as people rotated round to talk. Meg and Ashley were lovely and you had long chats with them about the English department at the school, especially Meg with whom you vented your frustrations about your difficult class. Turns out she was having more trouble with them than you were, and you mentally braced yourself for how the lessons would proceed.

You also met Barbara, who taught French, and her boyfriend Aaron who was a PE teacher. You met the other PE teacher, Blaine, and laughed at the two of them having a gym-off. Everyone seemed so chilled and happy and you loved the vibe. The drinks you’d brought were disappearing steadily and you felt the warm buzz of alcohol and contentment spread.

Just as Geoff and Burnie started arguing over the barbeque you bumped into Ryan again. He’d got caught up talking to his friend for ages. Apparently Nathan had been an old member of staff but had left a couple of years ago and this was the first time he’d had the chance to catch up. Something about working in LA. Before Ryan got the chance to explain Michael and Lindsay wandered over.

“How you guys doing?” Lindsay smiled.

“I’m good.” You replied, as Ryan nodded.

“Not too bad.”

Michael glanced down at your cider. “We just wanted to know if either of you were game for shots. We’ve got a Burnie-at-the-barbeque drinking game going on and he’s on his third beer, it’s prime-time.

“Driving, sorry.” Ryan said shortly, holding up his keys.

You glanced down at your own drink. “I’m quite drunk already to be honest, this is my forth and I haven’t had much to eat.”

“Well you’re halfway there already then.” Michael laughed. “Come on.”

You glanced up at Ryan, looking apprehensive.

He shrugged. “It’s not like you’ve got any reason to stay sober. Go for it, if you want.”

“Come on, it’s time for your initiation.” Lindsay said with a grin and you laughed.

“I’ve been out of university for five years.” You insisted, but followed them off to the deck anyway. You saw Ryan follow, obviously wanting to bear witness to your inevitable upcoming embarrassment. Great.

As you moved up onto the deck the gang of you stood round a small table, where you could see Burnie clearly at the barbeque. Meg and Gavin came to join you and you stood round, the shots between you.

“Well we might as well do one to get started.” Michael suggested, and Lindsay poured out rum for everyone.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this.” Meg laughed. “He’s going to notice.”

“Nah.” Gavin said casually. “Only if you keep looking at him like that.”

“Here we go kids.” Lindsay said, giving people their shots. She counted to three and you all downed it. The rum was tasty but burned its way down more than you’d been expecting.

“Blimey, what percent is that?” You asked.

“Uhh, 45.” Lindsay answered. “It’s good though isn’t it?”

“You lot are going to be on the floor.” Ryan commented dryly. “I’m so here for this.”

Michael teased. “Just because you’re boring.”

“Yeah you’re just sad you can’t join in.” Meg added.

“You kids keep telling yourself that.” Ryan smiled, and you all laughed in response.

“Ooh, he’s just swapped his beer hand. Drink.” Meg commented, and Lindsay set out another shot. You were going to regret this.

 

* * *

 

After that point your memory of the evening was a little distorted, to say the least. Most of it was missing, but there were a few _very_ memorable colourful flashbacks:

_You stand on the patio and do another shot, defying expectations. The others had stopped a while back but Michael suggested you were too chicken to keep the game going until half ten and goddamnit you were going to achieve this. As the smells from the barbeque become more spicy and slow roasted the burn of the rum stops being such a barrier anymore and it becomes easier to ignore the slight sickness felt from one too many shots._

* * *

 

_You stand leant up against the wall in the Ramsey’s house, waiting for the bathroom door to open. You stare blankly into the kitchen where you see Geoff chatting with a guy from IT you vaguely know. You are caught by surprise as the door beside you opens and someone you don’t know walks out, letting you wander in and close the door behind you. As the door closes the music becomes quieter and in the clinical white room it becomes clear how fuzzy you are. Sliding your tights down you accidentally catch them on your ring and rip down the side of them, leaving a light scratch on your leg too. You don’t really feel it. You sit on the loo and slip your ripped tights off with the utmost concentration, stuffing them unceremoniously in your bag as you pee. You look up at the sink opposite and while you sit completely still the world continues to spin. It’s been a while since the shots now and you don’t feel sick anymore, but the still quiet bathroom has you realising that you haven’t been this drunk in a long time._

* * *

_You sit on a bench in the garden. It’s quieter now, the music has mellowed and the crowd is dissipating. You have no idea what the time is, but you don’t care. The mood is relaxed and pleasant and you have no desire to leave just yet. The September Austin air is still warm and though the sky is dark now the garden is lit beautifully by lights of all shapes, sizes and colours. Lantern lights hang from the tree above your bench, illuminating the seat. Across the garden fairy lights strung across the fence light the walkway out the side of the house. Up on the deck the lights flooding out from the kitchen light up the decking, alongside some more lantern lights atop the railings. There were dark areas of the garden now, but the soft glow of the lights was enough to follow up to better lit areas._

* * *

_Ryan sits down next to you, a warm and solid presence. You feel happy as he sits right up next to you, the little bench meaning your legs are touching slightly. You feel the rough denim of his jeans against the side of your now bare thigh, but you don’t mind. You think his arm might be across the bench behind you but feel so warm and content turning round to check just seems like far too much work._

_“You okay?” he asks a fondness in his voice._

_“Hmm.” You reply, contented as you drop your head onto his shoulder._

_“I’ll take that as a yes.” He replies. “Do you want me to give you a lift home soon?”_

_You feel the disappointment flood your gut and you frown, still with your head on his shoulder staring across the dark garden._

_“I don’t wanna go home.” You admit._

_“I’ve gotta get your drunk ass home safely at some point tonight, and it’s nearly 1am now, the party is burning out.”_

_“I don’t care about staying here. I just don’t wanna go back to my flat.” The words tumble out of your mouth at the speed you think them, out in the world for Ryan to process at the same speed as yourself._

_You feel Ryan’s shoulder tense up, harder against your temple. “Is the window still not fixed?” He guesses._

_“No. And I don’t like it. Plus I don’t think I’ll be able to get the lock open this drunk.”_

_“I can get you home.” Ryan says lightly._

_“No. No you just go yourself home. You need bed.” You mumble._

_“Tell you what,” Ryan says decisively, shuffling so his arm on the back of the bench comes to rest on your shoulder reassuringly, “We’ll go back to my house until you sober up a bit and we can decide what to do with you.”_

_“Okay.” You nod and you smile, perking up a bit. Ryan’s house is nice. You like Ryan’s house. Plus it’s not dangerous because you won’t be alone because Ryan is there. Yes._

* * *

_You are sitting in Ryan’s car, warm and content as the lights flash past you. There are far fewer than there were earlier, but this is still a city and it still has life after dark. Watching the lights wizz past you think about trying to talk to Ryan, but are also aware that you don’t have anything to say. It’s not like you can’t form words anymore. You can, they’re just a bit slurred, but you just don’t have a topic because that’s too much work to think of. Which sucks because you really really like Ryan and you don’t want him to get bored of you. He’s great. And he’s driving you home, and he seems to be humming along to the radio? It’s nice. You think he sounds wonderful. And you kind of want to try kissing him now after thinking about it the other night. He is kinda hot._

* * *

_You stumble up the stairs, feeling the pain setting in as you hit your knee on the stairs. You clearly only stop for, like, half a second before you move again but Ryan is there, helping you up. He makes a joke about you being clumsy and you laugh on instinct but don’t really listen, because he’s got his hands round your waist to steady you and it feels really nice. Just really nice. He’s got really big strong nice hands and they feel really reassuring round your waist. And as you reach the top step you almost lose your footing and he’s there. And he’s got his hands on your waist still but you’re falling back against his chest and his body is supporting yours, your whole back pressed up against his front. And then just as quickly he puts you back on your feet to steady you and moves his body away. And your back feels bare now. Oh._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always, always appreciated <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have another update. Merry Christmas.

The first thing you notice when you wake up is that you are roasting hot. You realise it before you even think about opening your eyes, before you start to notice the other sensations mixed up in that moment. You wake knowing that you are boiling and sweaty, and that though the sweat might not be sticky in this moment it will be if you try to move. With this knowledge you lie still, eyes still closed, and process the multitude of other sensations. For one you feel a little sick, your stomach internally a little wobbly. The uneasiness sits in your lower stomach and is clawing its way up your chest and into the very bottom of your throat. You also have a throbbing headache slowly gaining traction behind your forehead, a dull buzz of pain. Externally though, you couldn’t be more comfortable. You become aware of lying on an incredibly soft and comfortable mattress, curled onto your left side. You are also lying on a soft pillow with an arm tucked under your neck. This mirrors the arm over your waist, cuddling you tight, and the warm, solid body you are pressed back up against.

Wait what?

Your eyes fly open and you find yourself in a strange bedroom, lit with a dull orange by the daytime glow from behind the curtains. The first thing your eyes focus on is the corner of a bedside table, the top inch of the table in your vision. Upon that is a lamp, an alarm clock, a silver watch and a plain black leather wallet, the corners of two receipts visible poking out of the back. Beyond that is a dresser with some photos on top that you can’t make out from here and a chair with clothes thrown across it. The clothes that Ryan was wearing last night. Oh. Ryan.

You shift a little and wince at the stickiness of how hot you are. You are both fully clothed, and there is a duvet over the top of you. As you shift, the body behind you shifts in response. From the back of Ryan’s throat comes a small and contented hum, and he squeezes you a little tighter, wrapped around you from his face in the back of your hair to his thighs pressed up against the back of yours, the bare backs of your legs pressed against soft cotton. You debate how long you will be able to lie there before the heat becomes too much.

After what could have been thirty seconds or twenty minutes, you can’t tell, Ryan answers the question for you by shuffling around. You shuffle with him and let out a little hmph of annoyance at the heat. Ryan’s breathing changes and he begins to pull away, sitting himself up. You take the hint and pull yourself upright as well, turning to look at him.

He looks tired, but then again he was up out late with you. He’s leaning up on one arm, still twisted a little to look at you. He’s in a loose cotton shirt and you can see where the duvet slipped down the waistband of cotton striped pyjama bottoms. His hair is ruffled and sticking up at odd angles and you can see the look of concern on his face as his sleepy expression stares at you.

“You okay?” He asks, voice cracking a little from its first morning use.

“Hot.” You respond. “Hungover.” You add.

“Stay there, I’ll get you some water.” He says softly and disappears out of the room. You can’t help but stand, wanting to shake off the stickiness. Your skirt has a huge crease down it from where you slept on it, but your clothes still feel relatively comfortable.

Ryan comes back in and hands you a pint of water. You sit on the edge of the bed and drink it with ease, knowing you should sip it down slowly but eager to get hydrated. When you finish Ryan has already finished his and put it back. You look over at the alarm clock and groan.

“It’s only half 7."

Ryan cocks his head a little, and you can’t tell what he’s thinking.

“Come back to bed.” He says softly.

You look at him and look at the bed and think about the fact that the heat has worn off now and that that mattress is incredibly soft and comfortable and then there’s no more thinking about it really. As you move back towards the bed he does too and you fall back into him, back to spooning closely and quietly.

He moves to bring the duvet back over but you stop him. “Too hot, no covers.” You groan.

“Fine, no covers.” He agrees and throws the duvet back. It’s still hot enough that you feel fine without it. He’s warm and solid against your back again and you think you feel him press a kiss against the back of your head, but you’re not sure because at some point you fall back to sleep again.

 

 

The next time you wake it feels like your head is being hit with a sledgehammer. You groan aloud at the sensation, and he squeezes you tight a little.

“What is it?” He asks softly.

“Headache.” You moan.

The hand draped atop you moves, and suddenly he’s running his fingers through your hair. It’s soft, and it’s reassuring, and it’s distracting from the pain of your head. Then, when you thought it couldn’t get more blissful, his fingers start to rub at your temples. Little, reassuring but firm circles that genuinely alleviate the pain in your head. You don’t have the energy to talk, to thank him, and neither do you want to break the silence. It would ruin it, somehow. Even humming in contentment seems like too much work. Instead you just lie there and let him massage it better, wishing that this blissful comfort would never end.

It does end, and in the most annoying way. You side starts to stiffen up from lying in the same position. You realise just as he brings his hands down. As he wraps his arms around you again, feather-light kisses are laid upon your right shoulder, up to your neck, and you feel both surprised and content. Shame you’ve gotta goddamn move before you get too stiff.

You shift and as you sit up and turn to face him you see his frown.

“Where are my cuddles going?” He almost pouts as he tries to make you laugh, and you don’t know whether to laugh or groan. Ryan is so relaxed and sleepy and missing all of the nerves you’d sensed on him before.

“Can’t lie on that side. Going stiff.” You explain as you try to keep the grumpiness out of your voice.

He lays back and opens his arms, gesturing. You shuffle round to lie on your right side and cuddle up to him, his left arm coming behind you to curl around your waist. You remember then him supporting you up the stairs the previous evening and try to remember anything more recent than that. You can’t. Your gut instinct tells you that you didn’t do anything sexual, you wouldn’t do anything, and that Ryan isn’t the kind of guy that would take advantage of you that drunk. You are still wearing all your clothes, after all. Still, the uncertainty bugs you. At some point you resolve to ask him, but for now the comfortable silence doesn’t need breaking. Again, at some point, you fall back to sleep.

 

 

When you woke up for the third time your memory was clearer and you felt more human. You felt sick and still had a headache but you realised that beforehand you were probably still drunk.  The bed this time was empty. As you sat up the movement combined with the smell of bacon drifting up the stairs made your stomach lurch and you rushed across the hall to the bathroom, throwing up what had been a very wide assortment of drinks.

Looking up at the sink you saw a bottle of mouthwash. With very little regard you opened it and took a swig, washing down the sink the taste of vomit still lingering in your mouth. You looked up at your reflection in the mirror. You were tired, there were clearly some bags under your eyes and a tired expression but your eyeliner had stayed perfect, as well as your lipstick. Aside from the crease in your skirt nothing about your outfit looked like you’d stayed up at someone else’s house. Small victories.

With growing apprehension you decided to wander downstairs toward the smell of bacon. Your heart was in your throat as you walked down the stairs, nervous and a little embarrassed. You couldn’t remember much from the night before, and had no idea how you’d ended up in Ryan’s bed. That was the worst feeling, and you didn’t know how he’d react when you came down the stairs.

As you emerged in the living room and turned towards the kitchen he looked up from across the counter, face breaking into a smile when he saw you.

“Hey, how you feeling?” He asked with a tinge of smugness to his voice. “Feeling all those shots?”

“I did shots?” You asked bluntly, and he laughed.

“You were smashed last night.” Ryan informed you. “How much do you remember?”

“Little enough that I am surprised to wake up in your house.” You admitted, and you could feel your face burning with embarrassment. Ryan clearly saw how uncomfortable you were and talked reassuringly while he got you a large glass of water and some painkillers.

“Well it’s not much of a tale to tell. You put up a drunk protest to going to your apartment because you thought people would break in the kitchen window. So I brought you back here to crash.”

“Dare I ask how I ended up in your bed?” You mutter quickly.

Ryan’s face went soft. “Oh, no, nothing happened. I took you upstairs because I thought you were gonna throw up and then couldn’t face trying to walk you down them again. We went into my room so I could get you an old t-shirt or something maybe to sleep in and you passed out on the bed.”

“Just like that? God I suck.”

“Well…” Ryan looked a little embarrassed as the next words tumbled out, “You asked if you could sleep there. I said I was gonna sleep there so you could stay if you were willing to put up with me. You seemed to like the idea of sharing a lot.”

“Oh god.” You moaned, and covered your face with your hands. “I’m an embarrassment.”

“I’ve actually never seen someone fall asleep that fast though, I’m impressed.” Ryan said, looking genuinely impressed.

“I bet you thought you were gonna get laid.” You muttered. Ryan laughed long and loud.

“You were far too far gone before I even brought you home.”

As he finished talking he reached for the grill and pulled out bacon and sausages.

“Those smell fucking delicious.” You admitted as he decanted them onto two plates. Ryan then pulled beans from the microwave and toast from the toaster, and set the plate of deliciousness down in front of you.

“English breakfast, right?” He asked. “Didn’t have any eggs or mushrooms, not quite sure what the fuck black pudding is.”

You laughed. “Close enough. Thank you so much. Got any ketchup?”

He handed you the bottle from the fridge and you squirted it roughly all over your plate. Ryan raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment further. The two of you sat in silence at the breakfast bar but as always, there was nothing uncomfortable about the interaction. In fact, there was something distinctly comfortable about this whole affair. You’d been cuddling with the man only a short while previously and wouldn’t object to doing it again. Ryan seemed happy as he sat and ate too, and you started thinking through ways to take this further.

“What are your plans for the rest of the day?” Ryan interrupted your thoughts.

“Um.” You thought about it. “Firstly go home and get changed. Beyond that I have no idea. Probably sleep off this hangover a little more and maybe do some marking.”

“Do you wanna go see a movie later?” Ryan asked, and you could hear the nervous hope in the end of his sentence.

You gave him a large smile. “Yeah okay.” You could feel yourself blushing again.

“Okay then.” Ryan replied, sounding a little more confident. You noticed he sat a little straighter, just like he stood straighter after making plans last Monday. That’s a good sign.

After breakfast you packed your things up and prepared to leave. Ryan did offer to drive you home but you didn’t live far away and needed the fresh air to shake off your hangover. As you moved to leave Ryan walked you to the door. You stopped and turned to him, and when he went in to give you a hug you decided to be bold, pressing a small kiss to his lips. It wasn’t exactly hot or passionate, but it was enough. As you broke away he paused for a moment, taken-aback, and then moved in to give you a more solid, harder kiss. It was still appropriate enough for a small goodbye on a doorstep, but there was tension enough you felt the promise of something more.

As you pulled away you beamed at him and turned to leave. You felt like a teenager again, unable to keep the smile off your face as you walked down the path and turned down the road. You turned back to give him a wave from the path and saw him smiling back at you. He returned the wave and closed the door. Suddenly walking home hungover didn’t seem like such a chore. You let yourself feel giddy, getting excited for the cinema later and finally admitting to yourself that you actually really, _really_ like this guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cue Carly Rae Jepson's "I really really like you"


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year and all that. As a present have the longest sex scene I've ever written.*

The date was, in your opinion, a roaring success. You’d gone to see the latest Marvel blockbuster and come out of it talking for hours. In the cinema you’d sat with Ryan’s arm slung across the seat behind you, leaning into him a little while watching the film. Physical contact felt natural after having woken up with him that morning. You were clearly more a fan of the film than Ryan was, as you interjected a lot more of the Marvel context into the conversation, but he was happy to discuss the movie in depth with you and you were talking solidly all the way out of the cinema and the entire journey home.

As Ryan pulled up outside your apartment the conversation really wasn’t over yet, and it was a natural progression to invite Ryan up to your flat. It was late on a Saturday night and you were low-key aware of the connotations of bringing him back up into your flat but your focus was far more centred on talking Marvel and movies in general. Turns out Ryan has a lot of the same cinematic preferences as you and the conversation continued as the two of you moved up the stairs and into the flat, getting drinks of water and sitting on the sofa talking.

When the conversation finally did fall quiet you realised quite how close the two of you had ended up. Ryan was leant back into one corner of the sofa, his arm slung across the back of the seat. You were sat sideways against the couch, facing him, your legs tucked up underneath you. When the silence fell you let your head fall sideways onto the back of the sofa and Ryan’s hand; which gently started carding fingers through your hair. You closed your eyes and leant into the touch, enjoying it but aware that you had rising nerves bubbling in the pit of your stomach. Goddamn it. You didn’t want to get anxious about this.

You didn’t like overanalysing things. You didn’t like feeling nervous and uncertain about relationships. You liked to be cool and casual and grown up about sex. But there was something here that sat anxiously in your chest and you suspected it would take an embarrassing amount of teen-style overanalysing to figure it out. And you weren’t sure how to handle this. Because you had a very hot guy in you apartment clearly looking to sleep with you. And yet. There was something that didn’t feel right.

Ryan sensed the tension. After all, it was just the two of you with no other stimulus in the room. There was no music, the TV wasn’t on. You were just together. And when you froze up he dragged his fingers a little more deeply into your hair, massaging your scalp reassuringly just the way you like it and spoke softly.

“You okay?”

“I, uh yeah. I think so?” You didn’t see a point in lying. If he’d picked up on it you might as well be honest.

“You think so?” He didn’t sound like he was getting concerned at all, but his brows furrowed a little as he looked at your confused and slightly pained expression.

“I’m anxious, but I don’t know what about.” Ryan silently waited for you to continue, hand still reassuringly stroking through your hair. “I like you Ryan. I really, really like you. And spending time with you feels so natural and relaxed. And you aren’t unattractive, I’ll give you that. But I feel nervous and hesitant about going anywhere with this and I can’t work out why because to be quite honest you’re awesome. And part of me wants stop being such a wimp and go for it, but I don’t like ignoring gut feelings.”

“You shouldn’t ever ignore gut feelings.” Ryan replied softly, speaking equally as slowly and carefully back to you. “What are you nervous about? Is it the possibility of this going somewhere or the physical side of things?” He phrased it so diplomatically you couldn’t help but find it funny. He was trying so hard to help you, as he had since the first day you’d met. This considerate fucker warmed your heart.

“I’m not actually sure. Maybe both?” You brought your hands up to rub your face before self-analysing aloud. You tried to keep your voice quite neutral and not too emotional. The last thing you wanted was to go hysterical on a guy you’d known two weeks. “I think a lot of it might be because you’re the only person I’ve gotten really close to since moving so far away. And I’m scared of fucking that up, or losing the friend I’ve found.”

“Understandable.”

“But I also have this weird feeling like if we progress physically too quickly I’ll lose the things about you I like? Like, I’ll be more focused on sex than how great you are to spend time with. You’re hot. And I don’t wanna get too lost in that?” You hesitated as the words came out, scared that you’d hashed them badly. You couldn’t tell if you’d worded that correctly.

Ryan didn’t look too put off; in fact his face broke into a smile. “Well I’ll certainly take the compliment. And you are pretty damn hot yourself. I would love to take you into that bedroom,” he said confidently, warming you with the compliment, “but I’m not an insatiable teenage asshole. I can wait. Besides, we’ve known each other like, two weeks. In the grand scheme of things we’ve hit it off pretty quickly already I think.”

“Hmm, I suppose.” You felt incredibly reassured by Ryan’s response and the compliment combined with the rationality brought everything back into perspective and eased the anxiety. “I think I needed to hear that.” You sat up, shaking off the emotion a little. “Goddamn, why do I have to think too hard about things?”

Ryan laughed a little. “It’s okay. You’re not the only one feelings jitters here.”

You looked up at him quizzically and Ryan explained. “You told me the other day you had a bad break up earlier in the year. Well you’re not the only one.” His face fell a little as he said it. You wanted to probe and question, to ask him about it, but you didn’t want to be too invasive. “This is the first time I’ve gotten close to someone since then. It’s a little scary.”

“I- actually yeah. I hadn’t even thought about that.” You paused. “I think that’s true for me too.”

“Besides, it’s not like there’s a how-to guide on dating. We’ll fall into it or we won’t. It’ll happen as it happens.” Ryan said it as though he were explaining a math question, like the answer was just that easy. And it made sense to you.

“I’m actually so fucking happy you said that.” You replied. “I am legitimately feeling better now.”

The tension in the room eased up, and you shuffled position on the sofa again, bringing the attention back to the fact you were alone in your flat just together. It seemed to strike a chore.

“Well in that case…” The corners of Ryan’s lips curled up, and he sat up a little, leaning towards you. “I’m not after anything too progressive tonight, but I would love to kiss you right now.”

You laughed nervously, feeling the blush spread across your cheeks. “Yeah okay I don’t have any objections to that.” You replied, mentally taking a deep breath to bury your nerves.

Ryan sat forward, confidently capturing your lips. You melted into it as your hands came up to rest on his shoulders, just as his hand from the back of the couch came to rest on your neck. He kissed you long and deep, with a little longing and desperation. You reacted to that, pouring in a little of your own frustrations into it. It was intense but without the underlying rush to go anywhere. You moved into it, indulging in that rush of affection. Before long your mouth fell open and kisses grew deeper, he mirrored you effortlessly. You weren’t exactly new to this, you were both experienced adults, but it had been a while and you were reminded just how pleasurable a good make-out session could be. It was good for soul.

Before long the tension started to build and Ryan broke away and sat back, gesturing for you to move towards him. As you moved forwards he wrapped his hands around you and pulled you onto his lap so you were straddling him as he sat back on your sofa. It was a clever move; you felt in control and could set the pace. You had started to become lost in the movement a little, overwhelmed with sexual contact again after a long time, but being back on top you felt a surge of confidence. You had an insanely attractive guy underneath you, letting you set the pace. And you intended to enjoy yourself.

You slid in closer, letting your chest press up against his as you deepened the kiss. He slid one hand up and spread it across your back encouragingly, holding you close. You could have been there for a minute or twenty, you relaxed into it too much to think about surroundings or time. When you next broke away it was with a smile, and you let your head fall forward onto his shoulder, catching your breath in a place where you could hide the grin you couldn’t stop from being plastered across your face.

Ryan spoke softly, but his voice was starting to sound a little heated and ruffled. “This is fun.”

Before you could reply, Ryan started placing kisses down your jaw and neck. Your ability to form words started to decrease rapidly, and you gave him a very pleased hum in return, knowing that from there he’d be able to feel the vibrations of your throat with his mouth. You let your hands stroke through his hair encouragingly and didn’t even think to stop him when his hand came up to brush your hair aside and pull your shirt aside enough to get to the junction of your neck, moving his lips round. He was looking for a spot to try and get a noise out of you, you knew, and you were content to let him explore. His other hand slid up to curl round your waist again as he searched. Before long he found a spot that had you sighing, body curling into his a little, and you felt him smile against your neck as he kissed that spot, sucking ever so slightly and nipping the skin. You didn’t make a sound but your body jumped a little and you know he could feel that.

“Without wanting to sound too presumptuous,” He breathed out, “I’d quite like to move this into the bedroom, wherever it goes.”

“I’m down for that.” You grinned, and you slid sideways off his lap back onto the sofa. He looked decidedly dishevelled now and you enjoyed the thought that he looked that way because of you. You were also keenly aware you probably looked similar thanks to him.

Ryan stood and turned to offer you his hand. You took it and rose from the sofa, still holding his hand as you led him through into the bedroom. On the way you caught your toe on the door frame because you were too busy focusing on how to play it next.

You jumped and let go of his hand. “Oh, motherfucker.” You swore as the pain kicked in. Ryan laughed and wrapped his arms round you from behind, pressing a firm kiss to the side of your head.

“Oh no, she’s injured!” He replied dramatically, and all of a sudden he swept you quite literally off your feet and carried you though to the bedroom. You gave a yelp of surprise as he lifted you but laughed and felt carefree as he carried you through into your own bedroom to drop you on the end of the bed. Your skirt rode up to rest so it just about covered your ass but your legs were fully out. Ryan ran his eyes over you laid out on the bed, legs bared, looking probably as dishevelled as he was, and for the first time you could really see lust in his eyes. It gave you shivers. _This isn’t just going to end in cuddling._

Ryan seemed to be having the same realisation. “I’ll be honest, I’d really love to continue this further.” He says, nerves tinging his statement as he waits for your reply.

“Same.” He looks at you quizzically and you continue, sitting up to reach for him. “You’ve kissed my nerves right away.” You lay back and pull him down onto yourself, kissing him deeply. As you pull him close his body lowers to press against yours and his hand slides up your waist to cup your breast through your shirt.

“Don’t you dare stop.” You say breathlessly.

“Okay.” He responds, sounding a little breathless himself, and kisses you again, harder this time. It’s more demanding and you kiss back harder too. His hand on your breast squeezes slightly as he feels you, and when he slips a hand up your shirt and runs a thumb over your nipple through the lacy material of your bra you groan a little into the kiss, feeling the heat instantly go straight between your legs. Any and all nerves you’d been feeling had completely vanished and you feel so caught up in the moment you want nothing but to progress further.

Ryan seems to sense the shift in mood. He brings both hands up to support himself and readjusts position as you shift, letting your legs slide apart so he can kneel between them. His body lightly presses down onto yours again and his hips grind against you a little as he follows the rhythm of your kisses. You respond by allowing your hips to ease into movement in return, your bodies rolling together with amazing synchronisation. Before long you could feel him against yourself as he started to stiffen.

You break off the kiss a little. “I think maybe it’s time for a little less clothing.” You whisper in his ear as he drops his head to your shoulder to catch his breath.

“You sure?” he asks, which you appreciate in light of your admitting nervousness earlier.

“Yeah.” You reassure him, before nipping at his ear with your teeth and then sucking kisses into his neck, just light enough that they shouldn’t mark.

Ryan groans a little and rolls his hips a few times. Now that he’s been given conformation this is going somewhere he grinds down into you much more firmly, taking pleasure in it himself. When you break from kissing his neck he shifts, sitting back up. You look up at him as he stretches and takes off his shirt and you stare shamelessly at his defined arms, shoulders and chest. He sees you looking and smirks down at you, spread out below him no doubt looking very dishevelled, and you hope that it looks a fraction as good on you as it does on him.

You motion to sit up and Ryan moves off of you, sitting on the bed beside you. You move up onto your knees and move over to straddle him in return. As you settle on his lap you slide your own shirt and bra off, kissing him before he gets a chance to stare too openly. You feel him smile against your lips as he slides one strong hand up your back to hold you tight and press you firm against him while the other slides up your chest to feel you again. You sigh into his mouth as he grasps your breast just right, grinding down your hips a little too. He grinds up in response, groaning a little himself. You can’t tell if he’s fully hard yet just with your hips, but there certainly seems to be enough there to work with.

Ryan brings his other hand up and plays with both breasts at the same time, gliding him thumbs across your nipples simultaneously and feeling you react, rolling against him as it sends a shiver down your body. He seems to enjoy toying with you and your reactions as he smiles against you lips again. He figures out pretty quickly that he can get you pretty worked up just with your chest and before long you are struggling to compose yourself as you press yourself into him, kissing fiercely and sliding your hands all over his skin. You feel across those strong shoulder muscles, down his arms, back across his chest and down to his hips. Though Ryan doesn’t have visible abs you can feel that his muscles are solid and it turns you on further. Your hands come round to feel his back and it’s amazing to explore while being teased.

Ryan seems to be waiting for you to push for more. Whether out of courtesy or to see how long he could tease before you’d snap you didn’t know, but if it were the latter it worked. You found yourself desperate for more and moved off him, motioning for Ryan to lay back. He leans back onto his forearms and you take control, kissing round his face and down his neck as your hands slide down to his underwear. As you kiss a sensitive spot on the base of his neck you’d found earlier you slip his underwear down and wrap a hand round him, feeling him as he reaches full mast. Ryan’s head falls back and he lets out a low, very husky groan which turns you on immensely. You start to move your hand, slowly, and continue to kiss your way down his chest.

As your mouth reaches his hip you see his face look down to watch you. You smile up at him as you kiss his hips before looking down, manoeuvring yourself to between his hips and bringing your mouth to his tip. Ryan lets out a moan, a little higher this time, and you think it might be your new favourite sound.

“Oh my god.” he grinds out under his breath as you start to slowly move your mouth in time with your hand, taking a little more of him in each time. You deliberately keep you pace torturously slow and tease with your tongue as you move, using every trick you know. He is sizeable enough that he’s filling your mouth and pressing into your throat while your hand still works his base. Before long he starts to try and buck his hips up into your mouth and you know he is getting desperate for more. But you’re not ready to bring this to an end yet.

You pull your mouth away, slowing your hand to a stop. Ryan almost whines as the contact stops, but gathers himself and sits forward.

“Your turn.” He says, low and heated. You lean back and lift your hips so he can slide off your skirt and underwear. He does so quickly, throwing them across the room, and then all in one motion you’re both naked there together, and you realise that this is really actually happening.

Ryan seems to have the same thought. “You wanna do this?” he checks.

“Yeah,” you reply breathlessly, “You got protection?” you ask, hoping it doesn’t ruin the moment too much.

It doesn’t seem to. “Sensible Lady.” Ryan reassures you before laying you back on the bed and climbing off it, moving to his jeans on the floor and searching through the pockets. You admire his strong back muscles and waist as you focus on trying to lie looking sexy on the bed, stretching out on your side with your hand supporting your head, one knee slightly forwards. As he turns round he stops dead looking at you.

“You’re so hot.” He blurts out. You smile at the compliment and feel a surge of confidence, pretty sure your cheeks were already too red and flustered for any blushing to be noticeable. He then seems to gather himself, all heat and motion again as he approaches the bed and you lie back, knees together still. He kneels on the bed and crawls over you, the condom sat on the bed beside you. He leans in to kiss you and slides a hand down to guide your legs apart, his fingers sliding down to stroke at you. You shiver and open your legs a little more to accommodate as he slides a finger in. You know you’re already aroused and relaxed and probably ridiculously wet so it doesn’t surprise you when he quickly moves up to two, then three fingers, stretching you with ease. After so long it feels so good to have something inside you.

As he moves you reach out to the side and open the condom. When Ryan has stretched you he sits back and you slide it onto him, relishing the way he bites his lip at being touched. You pull him down to kiss you and reach your hand down to guide him towards your entrance, angling your hips up encouragingly when you feel him start to press against you. You slide your hands up to rest on his hips and guide him in, sighing deeply as he stretches you. It’s a little painful to tell the truth, but it’s been a while and he is not small. Ryan pushes all the way in and then pauses. He briefly closes his eyes, and for the first time you sense nervousness in return.

“Ryan?” You say softly and slide a hand up to his face, stroking your thumb over his cheekbone reassuringly.

“It’s been a while.” He murmurs before dropping his face to the bed by your ear. You stroke the back of his neck reassuringly.

“When you’re ready.” You assure him, and he places a soft kiss on the side of your neck in response. It’s only a few seconds before he does begin to move again but it feels like an age, and you definitely feel more adjusted to his size. The first few thrusts are slow and relatively shallow; you can feel Ryan shifting to find a good rhythm and position. But before long the frustration the two of you had just spent time building up takes over and he starts to speed up, falling into a rhythm. You lift your legs and wrap them around his waist to allow him to go deeper and moan when he thrusts all the way in. The motion feels incredible and after such a long build up you are ready to go for it, starting to roll your hips up to meet his. Ryan’s breath is coming out shallow and ragged now and he looks like he’s enjoying himself more, which mirrors the pleasure building in your body.

“I’m not gonna last forever.” He breathes out into your ear, and you aren’t surprised. You had him pretty close earlier with your mouth. Shifting a little you reach a hand down and play with your clit, bringing yourself up towards orgasm. You find the right spot and realise it won’t take long.

“Go for it.” You moan out encouragingly, and Ryan’s thrusts start to speed up. He was still hitting deeply and that sensation combined with the pressure on your clit had you building pleasure pretty fast. Ryan gives a moan as he draws close and it sends shivers down your spine and straight into your lower regions, pushing you over the edge. You throw your head back and moan again, high and keening as you tighten and your body shakes, pleasure washing over you. Ryan loses it then and his thrusts become erratic. Just before he loses it Ryan’s mouth finds yours and he kisses you deeply and groans into it as he comes.

Movement slows to a stop and you both lay there breathless. After a heartbeat Ryan gives you another quick kiss and pulls out. You let your eyes close and breathing calm as you hear Ryan dealing with the condom. You open your eyes as he climbs back onto the bed, lying down next to you and pulling you in to cuddle with him. You don’t object, curling into him and placing an encouraging kiss on his arm.

“You good?” You ask quietly, checking that Ryan is okay and allowing him the chance to explain his nervousness if he wants to.

“Yeah. Yeah that was good.” Ryan places a kiss on the top of your head. “Did you enjoy it? I know it wasn’t the most athletic marathon-“

“Hey, no, I loved it.” You cut in, silencing the insecurity. “I think for the first time we’ve slept together that was pretty in-sync.”

“Hmm.” Ryan hums in agreement, but he still seems wrapped up in his own head a little.

“Hey,” You say softly, shuffling so you can look him in the eye. “What’s up?”

Ryan closes his eyes before replying. “I just had a moment. That was the first time I’ve been intimate with someone since, um, sinc-“

“Since your ex?” You finish for him.

“Yeah.” He opens his eyes again, looking sheepish. “Sorry to put a downer on the moment.”

“Nah, I got all soppy earlier.” You assure him. “We’re both finding our feet here.” A thought creeps into your head and you smile at him teasingly. “Besides, that means we’ll just have to practise.”

Ryan smirks and plants another kiss on the top of your head. “Yeah, I like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last of the material I wrote back in July for Camp Nano, I've finally finished sifting through it and editing. From here on out I'll be uploading as I write it, but I've got some good ideas for where I wanna go and I'm excited to get to it, when university allows me the time to have hobbies. 
> 
> *I would say that's the best sex scene I've ever written, but I've just drafted the one for a few chapters ahead of this and goddamn. 
> 
> Comments are always appreciated!


	12. Chapter 12

You made your way into work on Monday feeling as though you were floating. Life really was great. Ryan had stayed round yours until 2 on Sunday afternoon, mostly in bed, before eventually leaving you to shower and get on with the marking you’d neglected. You had managed to finish all your marking on Sunday afternoon, leaving time in the evening for a bath and some flirty texting before a solid night’s sleep.

“Hi guys!” You beamed as you met everyone in the staff room Monday morning. Half the group was still grumpy and sleepy, waiting for the usual Monday morning meeting with the whole staff.

“Someone’s happy.” Michael replied, warming to your pep. He was always awake in the mornings.

“Someone got laid.” Geoff said with a wicked grin, and your face snapped up to his.

“How did you know?” You blurted out.

Geoff’s face split into a shocked O. “I didn’t! I was guessing! Ooooh this is good.”

You groaned and buried your head in your hands as you realised he’d tricked you, just as the shit-eating grin began to spread across his face.

“What?!” Michael and Gavin said in unison. Meg’s head whipped round to pay attention to the conversation and you saw Lindsay look up too.

“With who?” Michael added.

Geoff wrapped an arm around your shoulder, smugly addressing the group. “Our little friend here went home with Mr. Haywood Friday night.”

Gavin’s face was a picture, Michael was grinning smugly too. Gavin let out another “What?!”

You sighed and gave them all a defeated smile. “Yeah. That happened.”

“Speak of the devil.” Meg said loudly, and you looked up to see Ryan making his way into the staff room, a pile of books and papers in one arm and his phone in the other. He had been looking down at it, but at hearing Meg’s phrase he looked up as he approached.

“What about me now?”

“Oh nothing.” Geoff said, with a teasing voice. Michael and Gavin were wearing identical smug grins and you buried your face in your hands again as you replied to him.

“They found out about us.”

Ryan took a long deep sigh to mirror yours. “Well that didn’t stay quiet for long.”

“Didn’t expect it to get out quite this quickly.” You replied, and he nodded in agreement.

“When were you shits planning on telling us you were dating, huh?” Geoff questioned, looking at Ryan suspiciously.

“We’ve been on one date!” Ryan exclaimed, and you nudged him to keep it down as you saw a couple of people look up at the raised voice.

“And you stuck your dick in her!” Geoff shouted back. Half the staff room looked up.

You burst out laughing as Ryan went beetroot red. “Dear god, I thought gossip went round the kids fast.” You complained.

“Oh honey we are so much faster.” Meg replied.

“I need to get a picture of this.” Geoff chuckled, gesturing to Ryan’s face as he still struggled to find a reply; face still bright red and mouth flapping like a fish.

“Fuck you guys.” Was his mumbled response, and you laugh as you brought a hand up to touch his forearm, gesturing for him to sit next to you. He moved to sit and Burnie called the room to attention, beginning the proceedings.

 

* * *

 

“Alright, I’ll see you losers at lunch.” Geoff proclaimed when it was over as he moved to leave. He looked back at you and Ryan. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t!”

“That doesn’t narrow it down!” Ryan called after him in response, but he was smiling as he fell into step beside you walking up to the classroom.

“Do you still want some help with your difficult class second period?” He asked as you walked.

“Yeah that’d be great actually. We’ve got some monologue heavy scenes later and it’d be good to give the kids a break.”

“I still can’t believe you’re teaching that class Shakespeare.” Ryan said in disbelief.

“Well someone has to.”

“Has Meg told you about that girl kicking off in her class?”

“Yeah she told me about Ellen throwing a fit and refusing to work. I hope she won’t do anything too ridiculous today, but I’m ready. At least she’s not reading later.”

“Good luck.” Ryan said fondly, and placed a brief kiss on the top of your head before dashing across to his own classroom. You’d agreed yesterday not to be affectionate at work because if it got out to the kids it would make life hell, but there was no one in the corridor so you both indulged in the brief moment.

You smiled at him and headed into your classroom ready for the day. This was going to be a good one.

 

* * *

 

This was not a good one. This had not been a good day at all. First you’d spilt coffee all down your skirt, and vowed to go home to change at lunch. Then the difficult class had kicked off that morning and even with Ryan’s presence they had been assholes. When you ended up sat in the classroom at lunch with four kids in front of you it was a struggle not to get snappy. They were made to spend 15 minutes detention for missing their homework and this meant you wouldn’t have time to go home and change out of your coffee stained skirt. It was an inconvenience and it made you feel a grumpy and irritable, but it was nothing you couldn’t handle, you just needed to try and stay professional and resist the urge to call them “insolent little shits”.

Then you looked down at your phone and your heart lurched. Three missed calls from mum. She never called if she knew you were working.

You saw Meg across the hall and stood to call her over. You showed her ‘Three missed calls from Mum’ on your phone screen and her face split into a worried look.

“That looks serious.” She frowned. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“It would be amazing if you could watch these guys while I go take the call.” You replied, “They’ve only got 7 minutes left. Let them out at quarter past if you would?”

“That’s fine. You go see what’s wrong, take as long as you need.” Meg gave you a reassuring smile and you quickly made your exit, hurrying to find a spot to answer the call. Your stomach churned as you dialled back and a lump rose in your throat as you waited for the answer. It only took a few seconds for your mother to pick up but it felt like years, terrible scenarios playing in your head as your worry sky-rocketed.

“Mum?” You asked tentatively as she picked up. She noticed the worry in your voice immediately.

“Oh honey.” You could hear the crack in her voice. There was nothing quite like hearing your mother upset and it made your whole heart lurch. Luckily she didn’t draw out the suspense. “It’s your aunt. She’s been rushed back in.”

“Oh no, what is it this time?” You almost whispered. She’d be having issues for a long time and this could only mean it was serious. Though you’d not spoken to her since moving to the US you got on very well with your aunt when you saw each other.

“The new drug didn’t work. She collapsed in the kitchen. It’s awful, they don’t think there’s anything more they can do. Her liver is failing.” You heard the helplessness in your mum’s voice and it curbed your own worry. How were you so worried about losing your aunt when your mum was in such a state? This was her sister after all. She must feel so much worse.

“Can she not get a transplant?” You asked.

“No. She’s too ill, the operation would be too much.” You heard the switch in her voice as she went from emotional to factual, trying to tell you the facts plainly.

“So what can they do?” You try to keep the desperation out of your voice.

“They can’t. That’s the thing.”

You both paused, the question pregnant in the air. You didn’t want to have to say the words to ask her, and she clearly didn’t want to start the conversation either. Not that you blamed her at all, even if it was what she rang to tell you.

“Tell me.” You said softly.

“A week.” You mum’s voice cracks and it hits you like a bullet. “Ten days if she’s lucky.”

“Oh god.” You sighed, running a hand over your face, becoming very aware of your position standing in a corridor in the middle of the school. “I’ll need to look at flights. I’ll ring you back later about that.”

“Are you sure you wanna fly all the way back here?” Your mum questioned. “It’s the middle of term and you’re only just into your new job, you’re needed. “

“Mum I can’t leave you at a time like this. I’ll speak to Burnie, see what I can get. Even if I don’t come home for another week, I’d still like to be there for you.” You were insistent. Your mother had a habit of battling you down but you were not going to let her win this one, it was too serious. She clearly heard that in your voice.

“Thank you honey. Just don’t let this get in the way of your new job.” She gave a sigh down the phone, collecting herself. “Tell me some good news, how are things going out there?”

“They’re going really well. I love this place, and I’ve met some amazing people. I’ve got some good friends developing already.” You said honestly.

“Have you found yourself a nice boy? Or girl, I’m not judging.”

You gave a little laugh to show your mum you appreciated her attempt to keep good spirits. “Well, I’ll have to get back to you on that one but yeah, maybe.”

“Well that’s good news. It’s really good to hear that you’re doing well.” You heard the pride in her voice and it made your heart swell with feeling.

“I’m glad too.” You reply. “Mum I better go I’m in school, but you tell me if you need anything. I’ll ring back later to talk flights.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely. You stay strong now.”

You heard your mum sigh. “You know, it’s weird to be receiving that statement from you rather than giving it.”

“I suppose we’re just at that stage now.” You replied, feeling a little weird about it yourself. “I gotta go, love you lots.”

“Love you too.”

As you clicked the end call button you took a minute to lean back against the wall. It was a shock, but it also kind of wasn’t. Your aunt had been ill with declining health for a long time and you knew eventually this day would come, especially with her frequent hospital trips over the summer. It was always awful to hear your mum upset but this was always going to be hardest on her, losing her sister so early in life. You’d all hoped your aunt would hit sixty but that wasn’t going to happen now, not with her birthday a few months away. You groaned and brought your hands up to rub your face, trying to shelve your emotions until you had a chance to process them later. Right now you had shit to do.

As you gathered yourself to go back to your classroom you looked up and saw Ryan coming down the hall towards you, looking worried.

“I popped in to see you and Meg said you’d gone to take an urgent call. You okay?” Concern laced his voice and you felt your lip tremble trying to compose a reply.

“My aunt is gonna die, I need to fly home.” You said, trying to be matter-of-fact but feeling the sob break across your voice as you said the last word. You closed your eyes to try and regain composure, determined not to break down in the school corridor. It might be lunchtime with no one about but there was no way you’d let the kids ever see you emotional. Warm arms then wrapped around you as Ryan pulled you close to his chest, bringing you in and giving you a warm, solid hug. You grabbed his arm and held it tight for several seconds, squeezing while you regained composure, and then let out a long deep breath as you let go.

“Are you okay to still be in school?” He asked you lightly. “It’s not a good idea to go up in front of the kids if you’re feeling emotional.”

“I should be fine I think.” You replied. “I just need a cup of coffee and ten minutes to compose myself. I’ve still got that much of lunch left right?”

“You have. What class have you got next?” Ryan asked you. “If they’re difficult I don’t think you should be in front of them; you know, if you’re feeling down.”

“My Junior class, studying Frankenstein. They’re alright but still not the best behaved. I need to speak to Burnie about this as soon as possible but I know he’s teaching this hour, I’m gonna try and catch him as he leaves his class and if I spend the next hour here I might as well be teaching.” You looked up at Ryan, looking him straight in the eye. “I need to keep busy to distract myself; I can’t stand to let someone else take over while I sit here doing nothing. I can do this, I know I can.”

“You sure?”

You took a deep breath. “I am not going to let my emotions get the better of me when I only have to hold it together an hour and a half before home time.” Ryan looked at you thoughtfully.

“You determination always surprises me.” He said it fondly, and it caught you off guard. You just looked at him curiously as he started to talk again. “I’m happy to come and help you with this class if you want. Do you at least want me to help you set the classroom up? I can lead the class as well if you want. You lessons plans are beautifully drawn up.”

“The furniture would be lovely.” You replied, “But I need to lead the class. The kids will sense something is off immediately if I’m not on form.”

“But you’re not on form. Y/N I admire your strength but we both know kids have a sixth sense for ripping us apart at any sign of weakness.”

You wavered. “I guess that’s right. I can just intro the lesson and we can read, giving parts out where necessary. I’ll just tell them I might have to go to a meeting so you’re there to take over if necessary."

“It’s a good job there’s lots of reading today.” Ryan replied. “It’s easy to waste a lesson with picking apart speech to look for symbolism and foreshadowing.”

“Are you sure you’ve never taught English?” You frown up at him.

“Nah, but I did come dangerously close to teaching theatre.” He replied, before moving to walk back to your classroom. You fell into step beside him. “That’s a story I’ll tell you one day.”

“Oh please do.” You replied.

It only took a few minutes for the two of you to set the classroom up ready to teach. Ryan talked away about meaningless crap while you both moved the furniture around and you kept your mind occupied. The two of you went through the lesson plan together and squared away what needed to be talked about in the lesson, so Ryan knew what to say if you couldn’t handle it.

As the kids lined up outside the classroom you took a deep breath and looked at Ryan. He gave you a confident smile and you mirrored it.

“Come on Y/N, we can do this!” He radiated cheesy, slightly sarcastic enthusiasm and it did manage to lift your spirits.

“Yeah!” You said quietly to yourself, and he chuckled.

“Seriously though, you’re capable and you got this.” Ryan looked at you fondly again. “Let’s teach some Literature.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's how you progress a plot right? If fanfiction has taught me anything the secret is "add angst".


	13. Chapter 13

When you spoke to Burnie he was so kind and understanding it almost made you cry. As soon as you told him what was going on he agreed to write you off work for as long as you needed it, starting as soon as he could get someone in to cover you. He stressed that he knew moving away must be difficult for you anyway and you were surprised by the mother-hen vibes that radiated off him as soon as you told him something was wrong. You felt overwhelmed and told him not to worry about rushing someone in, explaining that you’d like to go and stay for a week, just to make sure your mother was okay. Your boss told you to do whatever you needed and just let him know what was up.

You went back to your classroom to grab your bag before heading home and Meg popped over from across the hall, the purple of her hair catching your eye as you put your phone in your bag.

“Hey, how are you?” She asked, looking sympathetic. “Ryan told me what’s up with your aunt.”

“I think I’m alright.” You said, “Burnie’s given me the go-ahead to go home where I’m needed, I just need to make sure I’ve got flights and stuff sorted. It’s not an enviable task.” 

“Are you going to sort that tonight?” Meg asked lightly. 

“Yeah, I’m probably going to get home and get it over and done with.” You tried not to sigh too heavily as the subject was brought up and you immediately started planning in your head.

“D’you wanna come over to mine and Gav’s later?” She elaborated when you looked up at her quizzically. “Me, Gavin, Lindsay and Michael are having a pizza and Mario Party night, I thought you might like to join us.”

“That’s really kind of you.” You replied, but hesitated. “I’m not sure I’m going to be the most energetic of guests though.”

“Oh god no, we’re not expecting you to be.” Meg insisted, “But I know you live alone and I don’t want you to be alone when you’ve got shit going down. Just come hang out and eat pizza and watch us make fools of ourselves.”

“That’s amazing. Thank you for inviting me.” You couldn’t express you gratitude. 

“Awesome.” Meg gave you a beaming smile and it filled you with warmth. “I’ve gotta go, but just message me and let me know when you’re on your way over, yeah?”

“I will do.” You agreed, and she left. 

As you grabbed you bag and turned to leave Ryan appeared across the hall. He had been brilliant in helping you teach and you’d really enjoyed his company. With Ryan there to ground you you’d kept your composure well. It had been easy to fall into step with him from day one and it was relieving that that extended to the classroom.

“How was Burnie?” He asked you.

“He was really nice about it. I can take as much time off as I need. I just need to go home now and sort it.”

Ryan looked sheepish. “I would offer you a lift home but I’ve gotta go do some set design stuff for the show.”

“Oh no, don’t worry about it.” You insisted. “Thanks for the thought, but I like walking to clear my head anyway.”

“Just let me know if you need anything.” Ryan insisted. “Do you want some company later?”

“I should be alright; Meg invited me over to join their game night so I’ll have company for the evening. Thanks though, and thanks for telling her by the way. It’s always such a stress having to explain your situation to everyone.”

“You’re welcome,” Ryan replied, “Just know I’m here for you, yeah?”

“Thank you Ryan.” You stepped closer and wrapped your arms around him, letting him hug you tight again. Warmth filled you as you let him ground you and took a moment to indulge in it. When you pulled away Ryan looked around, and seeing no one around lent down to kiss you before letting you pull away. It was modest but it helped, and you squeezed his hand in return.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” You told him.

“Bright and early.” He replied, turning to leave. “Hope you have a good evening.”

“You too.” You replied as you watched him walk out and turn down the corridor. It was nice that he hadn’t hesitated in kissing you even if the ‘no affection at school’ rule was already out of the window. Emotional disasters usually strained newly forming relationships but you took this as a good sign. Hopefully your troubles wouldn’t stop this thing with Ryan, wherever it was going, from forming.

You picked up your bag and made your way home feeling happy that you had such supportive friends and colleagues. It didn’t stop the sick feeling settling in your stomach though as you got home and faced the task of arranging flights home, worrying over when to go and return.

It was messy trying to decide on how long to stay, as you didn’t know when the funeral would be or whether to stay for it. If you went home too early your aunt would still be alive, and although it would be amazing to see her one last time she wasn’t in a very good state and it would just be a game of waiting for her to pass. It would be heart-wrenching and you might have to come back before the funeral. However if you went too late she’d be gone, and you might miss the funeral too. As she had been ill a long while your aunt had arranged the funeral, and with this confirmation of her short time left she set the date soon after her expected death, not wanting to prolong the family grief. 

In the end you arranged to go home early on Sunday morning, five days away, and then to return the Sunday after, late in the evening UK time. If your mother’s estimate of a week was accurate you would get the chance to say goodbye and then make the funeral’s estimated date of the Saturday.

After a tearful phone call letting your mother know the plan you looked up Meg and Gavin’s address. It was a 40 minute walk away and you decided it would be a good idea to walk to clear your head. You messaged Meg that you were on your way, put your headphones in and walked up towards their house, letting the October vibes fall around you. It was a bright, sunny fall day and although Austin would never have the Autumnal charm of the UK you still let yourself dream of falling leaves and crisp cold mornings, steady music taking you away from the gloom. 

You were feeling sick and tired when you arrived at Meg and Gav’s house. Trundling up to the door you raised your hand to knock and the door opened immediately, Gavin stood in the door with a smile.

“Hey Y/N. How you doing?” He asked.

“I’m alright.” You replied, and tried to force a smile. Gavin showed you in and shut the door behind you, moving to give you a hug before leading you into the living room. It wasn’t particularly long or affectionate, but it was still an acknowledgement that he wanted to be supportive and you appreciated it nonetheless.

Moving into the living room you saw Michael and Lindsay sprawled across the sofa, arguing loudly over which of them should have the more battered wii-mote. Smiling at them as you walked in got an “Oh hey Y/N!” in response before they went back to shouting at each other. You looked over and saw Meg in the kitchen and wandered over to join her.

“Hey Meg.” You said with a smile as you entered the kitchen. It was a bright, modern room with shiny new appliances that made your apartment look awful in comparison. She was stood at the oven, just sliding some nachos in.

“Oh hey.” She replied. “We’re gonna order some pizza in a minute, what do you fancy?” 

“Oh nothing much,” You replied. “I’m feeling a little sick if I’m honest, I might just steal a slice. I’m not fussy about toppings.”

Meg’s face turned sympathetic. “Did you get everything sorted okay?”

“Yeah, I should be off home early Sunday. Just gotta get through this week.” You tried to sound positive but could hear the words coming heavier and wearier than preferred. Meg glanced over your shoulder at the others arguing in the living room before coming over and placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder.

“You okay to teach?” she asked.

“Yeah. I managed okay today and it’ll be worse if I’m just sat at home worrying. Everyone here has been so supportive and Burnie has offered cover. I know you guys are here for me if I need it.”

“I’m just glad we can help.” Meg smiled and then turned back towards the cupboards. “If you’re feeling sick do you want me to make you something a bit plainer than pizza? It’d be better for you.”

You frowned. “Oh no don’t trouble yourself, it’ll be fine.”

Meg frowned. “You sure? You should eat something.”

“Yeah, really. I’ll just steal some of those Nachos.” You teased, and she laughed.

“Okay, I’ll allow it. Shall we go join the others?”

“Yeah.”

You followed her through just as they’d finished setting up the game. Sliding onto the end of the sofa next to Gavin you curled up and let the others play, occasionally commenting but mostly content to just watch. They were excitable and competitive and it was fun to be in the room with. By the time the pizza arrived the anxiety in your chest had loosened and you were laughing aloud at the others as they played dirty and screwed each other over. 

“Pizza’s here!” Gavin shouted as he jumped off the sofa and headed towards the door. You sat back so Lindsay could shuffle past you to go get plates from the kitchen, coming back with the nachos too. As everyone settled down to eat you glanced up at the cartoon display on the screen.

“You know I’ve never actually been to a tropical beach.” You mused.

“Oh it’s amazing.” Meg smiled. “We went on holiday to Cancun a couple of years back, the beaches were incredible.” Gavin nodded in agreement. 

“I’d like to go one day.” 

“Me and Lindsay were looking at going somewhere this year,” Michael chipped in, “But then we bought a fucking house and our money went on that instead.”

“Yeah that’ll really crush the holiday expenses.” Meg agreed.

Lindsay smiled. “Yeah but we’ve got a sweet new house though. We’ll just have to save up next year.”

“If we’re going to the tropic’s it’ll be more than one year’s savings.” Michael muttered. Gavin laughed.

“Yeah it wasn’t cheap.” He replied.

“We’re saving up for Japan next.” Meg said, sitting up straighter with her hair bouncing excitedly. “I can’t wait to go back to Tokyo, I haven’t been in ages and there’s so much cool new stuff I wanna see.”

“That sounds cool.” You replied.

“Where do you wanna go?” Meg shot back.

“Umm… I think maybe some stuff up north? I’d love to visit Canada and see some mountains.”

“Oh that sounds good.”

“I also really wanna go to Iceland too and see the Northern Lights. I wanna bathe in those volcanic pool things where it’s warm but there’s snow on the ground around you.”

Gavin shuddered. “Why would you do that to yourself?”

You smiled. “I love cold places. I really wanna go on snowy holidays. I’ve never been anywhere with proper deep snow, just English mush.”

“If you love snow so much why the hell did you move to Texas?” Michael questioned, and you laughed.

“God knows. It’ll be freezing going home now, I know that.”

“How long are you going home for?” Lindsay asked.

“A week. Sunday to Sunday.” You replied, your voice matter-of-fact. Meg seemed to see your mood fall as you were reminded of the situation at home.

“Hey, Y/N, why don’t we have another one of these when you’re back?” She asked. “We have game nights every couple of weeks anyway, so shall we say Wednesday two weeks’ time?”

“That would be amazing.” You gave her a warm smile. 

“You’re very welcome.” She replied, then smirked. “Although you might have to fight Gavin for his wii-mote.”

“Hey! Why am I giving mine up?” He said indignantly.

“Well she won’t win in a fight against me or Lindsay.” Michael laughed. “But all you need in a punch in the nose and you’re down.”

“Seriously though, we can all take turns.” Meg said.

“Thank you. Honestly, all I’ve felt since being here is gratitude, I swear.” You replied. “You guys are all so kind and supportive, everyone is.”

“I know what it’s like to move so far away.” Gavin said. “It takes a long time to settle in and you’ve got so much crap to deal with. It’s good to get some kindness this early on.”

“Oh yeah, we’re gonna be total assholes once you’ve been here long enough.” Michael replied. “You only get the sympathy for so long.”

You laughed. “I better take what I can while I can.”

“Damn right.” Lindsay said, before stuffing half a slice of pizza in her mouth. She managed to get some on her nose and everyone laughed. 

“No but seriously, watch out for this one.” Meg pointed at Gavin. “Practical joke central. This guy will try and fuck you up and film it happening. Does it to everyone.”

“Apart from you.” Michael retorted.

Meg brushed her hair back over her shoulder and looked smug. “He can only trick me so much if he wants to keep getting laid.”

You laughed along with everyone and smiled, but before you knew it the attention had turned to you.

“So Y/N talking of getting laid...” Meg started, smirking at you, “Mr Haywood eh?”

You felt yourself blush. “Yeah that kinda happened.”

“Happened?” Michael said, comic in expression. “That sounds like it’s over!”

“Oh no,” you corrected, “I just, I mean I don’t know where that’s going yet. And with all this shit going down at home I don’t really know how invested I wanna be in anything right now.”

“I get that.” Meg replied. “He is hot though, right?” She said, winking at you.

“HEY!” Gavin shouted, and Meg just laughed.

“Oh come on Gav, you told me last week that he manages to “pull off that nerd look”.”

“I mean yeah,” Gavin replied, and everyone laughed at the back-track, “but still.”

Meg put on her most teasing and over-dramatic flirt. “Oh don’t worry baby, I’m all yours.” She joked, winking at her boyfriend. Michael pretended to throw up loudly, with sound effects, and again everyone fell into easy laughter. 

“So Y/N,” Lindsay continued, clearly not letting the subject drop, “When’s the next hot date?”

“I don’t know.” You replied. 

“He’s really keen on you. It’s kinda adorable actually.” Meg’s smile was fond and you got the impression that the two of them were good friends. 

“I know, I’d noticed.” You said. “I feel weird about doing the flirty getting together thing with home stuff going on. The two don’t mesh.”

Michael laughed. “You don’t need to be fucking seducing him, he’s far enough gone already. Just play video games with him and watch Netflix.”

“Netflix and chill?” You joked.

“Oh god. Does Ryan even know what that means?” Gavin asked.

“There’s only one way to find out.” Lindsay winked at you.

“Maybe after I’m back.” You said, smiling at the thought of Ryan not understanding.

“Still though,” Michael continued, “Don’t even bother with the chill part if you’re not feeing it. Just do the Netflix part. Ryan really enjoys just hanging out with you.”

“I’m not the best company at the moment though, and I’m really conscious of it. I also feel kinda greedy just letting him dote on me.” You confessed.

Meg sighed. “He cares about you a lot already. It has all happened quite fast, but he misses having someone to take care of. That’s just who he is.”

“I suppose.” You replied. It gave you a lot to think about. 

“Now!” Gavin announced, bringing the attention back to the TV. “Who wants to challenge my lead!” He picked up his wii-mote again. You snuggled back on the sofa and let them play, relaxing into the atmosphere again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: story has gone on hiatus for a while because my actual aunt in real life has gone into hospital and I can't face doing this right now. I have not given up on this but it might be a while before an update. Sorry.


	14. Chapter 14

Dragging yourself out of bed in the morning felt like dragging yourself out of the grave. Last night had been brilliant, hanging out with the others, but as soon as you’d gotten home all the emotion you’d been distracting yourself from came flooding back. You had cried as you attempted to start gathering clothes to pack. After half an hour of sobbing you tried to sort yourself out and get to bed, but the stress and the worry kept sleep a million miles away. After all, you didn’t know how long your aunt was going to live. She could be dying right now, and you wouldn’t even know. And you felt so guilty not being there to help, cut off and so far away, and yet part of you was relieved to not be part of the grief, to not be surrounded by it. But that just made you feel like a selfish piece-of-shit, and you cried and cried long into the early hours.

Around four am you gave up on sleep completely and just started reading. Burying yourself in a book did help to calm you down and distract you but never enough so that you could switch off when you put the book down again. You know it had passed five am before you fell asleep headfirst onto the book and when the alarm went off at half six you didn’t feel human anymore. You were so numb and disconnected, finding the motivation to get out of bed and put your clothes on felt like climbing Everest.

You got to work a little late, going straight to Burnie to tell him what was going on. He liked that you wanted to stay busy and was encouraging of your desire to carry on working, but he insisted if you needed a lesson off he’d find you cover because it was important to stay professional in front of the kids. You agreed and asked if Ryan could continue to join you for support with the difficult classes when he was free. Burnie agreed and you shuffled on up to your classroom, grateful that your first lesson was an easy class.

When break rolled round you checked your phone to see Ryan had text, asking how you were feeling today. You were about to reply when you walked into the staff room and saw him stood by the coffee machine, deciding to just go speak to him instead.

As you approached him he turned and immediately handed you a cup of coffee.

“I was just about to bring this up to you. How are you today?” He asked, and as he looked at you properly you saw his eyes furrow with concern. You had no idea how you looked and realised the stress was probably visible on your face.

“I’m tired.” You replied, “Didn’t really sleep last night.”

“At all?” He questioned.

“Not really.” You replied. “Maybe an hour at the end?”

“What happened?” He asked. “Was the evening with the others alright?”

“Oh no that was great,” you insisted, “But I spent so long distracting myself yesterday by the time I had to face it everything was just so overwhelming.” You brought a hand up to rub your face.

“Your eyes look puffy.” He said, reaching a hand up to stroke a thumb over your cheek. You tried not to sigh and lean into the touch too much, but as your eyes briefly fluttered closed he realised that it was really comforting.

“I cried a lot last night.” You admitted, and he gave you a sad smile.

“Stay over mine tonight.” He said it softly and it made you pause. It was said in such a sweet, caring voice.

“You sure?” You asked.

“Yeah. Don’t be alone with this, you can stay at mine and we’ll watch some TV and relax.” He said it casually but you got the message, lots of snuggling and comfort was on the cards. And though you still felt guilty putting your stresses on him it sounded like heaven.

“I’d enjoy that very much.”

 

* * *

 

You arrived at Ryan’s at half-five, with an overnight bag and your laptop. It had been weird packing for this and you hadn’t been sure what was expected of you. Normally with a new guy you’d bust out the sexy lace underwear and the suggestive night-dress, but as the aim of the evening was Netflix with no ‘chill’ you didn’t know how to pack. In the end you went for comfy but lacy-round-the-edges underwear and brought an oversized shirt to sleep in. After all you’d slept together already; it wasn’t like your body was an unseen mystery to him.

He distracted you well with a lovely dinner and easy conversation, cheerful and chatty as he told you all about his house and the computer he was building and his cat. He was animated and it warmed you to be in that happy atmosphere. As the evening drew in you ended up on the sofa, sat next to him as you put a movie on.

“What are you thinking, movie wise?” He asked, flicking through the options.

“Something easy that I’ve seen a million times before. Star Wars.” You said, pointing at the option as it rolled across the screen.

“A New Hope it is then.” You smiled as he clicked okay and pulled you in to cuddle with him. You curled up against his side and the opening credits had barely rolled when the exhaustion from the previous night hit you. With your head on his shoulder you felt the tension in your body start to dissipate and your eyes felt heavy. When he shuffled to pull you into a more comfortable position your eyes dropped to close completely, falling asleep to the sensation of your head on his strong shoulder and his hand on your hip; fingers gently drawing mindless circles on your skin.

You woke when he shifted, vaguely aware of the music playing. The end credit music. Well then. Blinking and turning to look at him you saw Ryan was looking down at you with amusement and you knew you were gonna get teased for this later.

“Let’s get you up to bed sleepyhead.” He murmured to you and you yawned while stretching, exhaustion still washing through your body.

“Okay.” You said sleepily.

You followed him up the stairs and into his room, grabbing your bag on the way. When in his room he started pulling pyjamas out of his drawer and you pulled your oversized t-shirt out of your bag, stripping off your clothes ready to put it on.

Looking up you saw Ryan determinedly not watching you change; his eyes everywhere but your body.

“You _are_ allowed to look at me you know.” You said to him. “We’ve more than just seen each other naked already.”

“I know, it’s...” he trailed off and was suddenly really busy rummaging for a different t-shirt to sleep in.

“What is it?” You questioned, still sleepy and confused as you pulled the t-shirt on.

“Don’t worry.” He said lightly.

“Nah don’t gimme that.” You were light and teasing but he got the message.

Ryan paused looking embarrassed. It wasn’t until he explained that it clicked why. “I mean, it’s just… You’re clearly not looking for anything more than a hug right now but looking at your body my mind is off down all sorts of inappropriate alleys. I shouldn’t be fantasizing about you when you need comfort.”

“Oh god, don’t worry about it.” You said. “It’s natural to fantasize about someone new you’re into, especially when they’re naked in front of you. The train of your thoughts doesn’t bother me, it’s what you act on that counts.”

“I know, and you know I’d never touch you unless you one hundred percent wanted it, right?” He said, clearly nervous. You paused, realising your previous statement might have carried the implication of mistrust. You hadn’t meant that at all, but you saw it now.

“Oh god no, that wasn’t what I was trying to imply. I trust you.” You clarified, walking over and reaching up to kiss him. He seemed to relax.

“Still,” He joked when you pulled away. “You could probably do without my dick poking into your side tonight.”

You gave him a sleepy laugh. “It wouldn’t bother me. You’re not getting a helping hand from me when I’m this tired, you can sort yourself out, but it’s kinda nice to know your body is appreciated, you know?” You gestured vaguely down at yourself in the oversized t-shirt, shapeless but for your legs on show.

Ryan leant in to run a hand down your arm, taking your hand in his. “And yours is definitely appreciated, I can promise you that.”

He raised your hand to kiss the back of it, eyes sweeping over your body, before disappearing off into the bathroom with his change of clothes. You heard the shower go for a while and realised he must be dealing with himself before climbing into bed with you. You felt you were missing out. Part of you started to feel a little hot and bothered by the idea of him touching himself and you contemplated going to join him, but the exhaustion running through your body was overwhelming, and instead you turned and collapsed into the soft bed, feeling sleep take you as soon as you sighed into the soft pillow.

 

* * *

 

You woke up when it was still dark, the only light in the room coming from the alarm clock on the bedside table. It read 5.47am. You and Ryan had headed up to bed early, around 9.30pm, and you realised between sleeping through the movie and going to bed early you’d slept a whole nine hours. You were warm and comfortable with Ryan spooned up behind you, loosely but with his face near the back of your head, feeling his breath on your neck and his arm slung across your waist. You knew it was 45 minutes until the alarm and you tried to go back to sleep, but you were wide awake now, unable to relax. As your memory of the previous day came back you felt your body grow tense again, and the worry made you restless.

Ryan shifted behind you and you heard him mumble in his sleep. It was barely audible but his arm across you started to twitch a little and you realised he was dreaming. You shifted around to look towards him, trying to make out his face in the dark room, and the movement clearly triggered a reaction in his dream because he shifted more and mumbled a little louder.

“Y/N.” he said in his sleep, and you froze, feeling like you’d just been caught eavesdropping on something important. It was weird to think that he was dreaming about you. As he continued to mumble, almost whining out unintelligible words, you thought about turning back and trying to go back to sleep. But then he moved more and talked aloud again.

“Y/N, please.” He said restlessly, almost moaning the word and rolling his hips.

Oh. Okay then. Maybe showering before bed hadn’t gotten it all out of his system. You brought a leg up towards him and as you did he rolled them his hips again and you felt that he was more than a little worked up. That was definitely an erection. And suddenly you were hyper-conscious of being in bed with him while you were both wearing very little.

You wondered what to do. Ignore it? Pretend you were asleep? That just meant when he woke up you’d have to act like nothing had happened and that felt dishonest. You could also wait until he woke up and see where you could take it, but if he had a full-on wet dream and filled his underwear that would be embarrassing for both of you. It wasn’t clear what kind of guy he was yet for that, your ex had been really bad for it. Part of you wanted to be naughty and start touching him, maybe wake him up with sex, but you didn’t know him well enough to cross those sorts of lines. As you thought about it your skin started to grow hot and you felt increasingly sensitive.

He moaned again in his sleep and without thinking you reached down and slid a hand into your own underwear, struggling not to groan as you went from a little flustered to desperate for touch in seconds. You bit your lip and started drawing lazy circles around your clit with your finger as you listened to his breathing, ragged and uneven. It wasn’t what you’d intended but god, it was hot.

You had just settled into a rhythm when Ryan moved particularly fast and his breathing changed completely, a jolt through his body as he clearly woke up. There was a second’s pause where the only sound in the room was your own flustered breathing before he spoke.

“Y/N?” he questioned, clearly still disorientated and confused to wake up from a dream where the two of you were intimate to find you panting and touching yourself in his bed and not sure if he was still dreaming.

“Just touch me.” You ordered, and moved forwards to capture his lips. He froze for a second, brain clearly catching up, before responding enthusiastically. As you moved your body flush again his you were pleased to realise he was still wanting.

You guided him so he rolled onto his back and climbed atop him, rolling your hips down against his hard length where you both needed friction. He groaned as you kissed him hard and your hands moved to guide his hands to your body. He slid one arm up to squeeze your breast while the other curled on your hip, guiding your movements against him.

After a while you felt your impatience build and became eager to have him inside you. You threw off your t-shirt and climbed off him to slide your underwear off, allowing him to shrug his clothes off too. In your impatience you almost jumped him, but held yourself back when he reached over into his bedside drawer and pulled a condom out. You settled for sliding a hand down and touching yourself while he deftly slipped it on, before he pulled you in towards him. As you went to straddle him again he slid a hand down and put two fingers up inside you, making sure you were stretched. You rolled against his hand but quickly guided his wrist away, settling on top of him as with your other hand you guided him inside you.

You both groaned as you sank down onto him, throwing your head back and feeling your hair ghost against your back. It was tighter this time with less build up and the almost uncomfortable stretch made you feel how large he was. There was a pause, and then you started to slowly roll your hips, gaining momentum. Ryan’s hands came to settle on your hips, guiding your movements as he started to roll his hips up to meet yours. It felt amazing, and you set a faster pace, feeling so much tension quickly come to a head as you took charge of the movement.

In that moment you felt so powerful, setting the pace and taking your pleasure, feeling and hearing him also quickly coming apart. You felt every nerve in your body on fire as you looked for the right point to push you over the edge, and as Ryan’s thrusts started to lose rhythm as he came he brought his thumb round to your clit, rubbing it roughly. You felt yourself shake and begin to fall apart, moving from groans to gasping out his name as you came, head thrown back and movements rolling to a stop.

“Ryan. Oh Ryan.” You gasped out over and over, until your bodies had stopped shaking and you felt like you wanted to collapse. After a pause you pulled off him, and as he moved to dispose of the condom you fell back on to the bed, feeling lightheaded. You felt very vulnerable and exposed, emotionally laid bare for your new lover to see. He climbed onto the bed and pulled you in to kiss you passionately, wrapping his arms around you and lying intertwined from head to toe.

“Wow. Where the hell did that come from? Not that I’m complaining.” He asked breathlessly, sounding a little amused and a lot astounded.

“I don’t know.” You replied, resting your head on his chest and stroking your hand down his arm. “You moaned my name in your sleep. It was hot.”

Ryan chuckled and you felt him glance up at the clock. “It’s only ten minutes until the alarm is meant to go off now. I can see the light starting outside. “

You huffed out a breath, the air rushing out and ticking his chest hair a little. You felt him shift in reaction.

“I don’t want to face the world.” You said honestly, voice small. “I just want to curl up here with you forever.”

“Oh Y/N.” He replied, before pulling you up to kiss you softly and wrapping his arms around you. “I wish we could.” As you settled into his embrace he drifted a hand up and down your back, fingers light and soothing on your skin. There were a few moments of silence as you gathered your strength.

“Hmmm.” You huffed and made to pull away, tearing yourself out of the moment before you lost the motivation to do so. As you sat on the edge of the bed Ryan sat up next to you and drifted a hand around your waist again.

“Come on, I’ll turn the alarm off before it deafens us. Let’s go get coffee and break the day in gently.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back baby. Enjoy x


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